m^
m*
H
IN ■ BM^^I^^
ITUALITY OF JESUITS
le Incarnational Dynamic
of the Constitutions
JAnos LukAcs, S J.
BX3701 .S88x
Studies in the spirituality of Jesuits.
Issue: v.36:no.4(2004:winter)
Arrival Date: 01/03/2005
O'Neill Current Periodicals
36/4 WINTER 20O
THE SEMINAR ON JESUIT SPIRITUALITY
The Seminar is composed of a number of Jesuits appointed from their provinces in the
United States.
It concerns itself with topics pertaining to the spiritual doctrine and practice of
Jesuits, especially United States Jesuits, and communicates the results to the members of
the provinces through its publication, STUDIES IN THE SPIRITUALITY OF JESUITS. This is
done in the spirit of Vatican It's recommendation that religious institutes recapture the
original inspiration of their founders and adapt it to the circumstances of modern times.
The Seminar welcomes reactions or comments in regard to the material that it publishes.
The Seminar focuses its direct attention on the life and work of the Jesuits of
the United States. The issues treated may be common also to Jesuits of other regions, to
other priests, religious, and laity, to both men and women. Hence, the journal, while
meant especially for American Jesuits, is not exclusively for them. Others who may find
it helpful are cordially welcome to make use of it.
CURRENT MEMBERS OF THE SEMINAR
James W. Bernauer, S.J., teaches philosophy at Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Mass.
(2004).
Richard A. Blake, S.J., is chairman of the Seminar and editor of STUDIES; he teaches
film studies at Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Mass. (2002).
Kevin Burke, S.J., teaches systematic theology at Weston Jesuit School of Theology,
Cambridge, Mass. (2003).
Gregory C. Chisholm, S.J., is administrator of Holy Name of Jesus Parish, in South
Los Angeles, Cal. (2003).
T. Frank Kennedy, S.J., teaches music and is director of the Jesuit Institute at Bos-
ton College, Chestnut Hill, Mass. (2004).
Thomas P. Rausch, S.J., teaches theology at Loyola Marymount University, Los
Angeles, Cal. (2002).
William E. Reiser, S.J., teaches theology at the College of the Holy Cross, Worces-
ter, Mass. (2004).
Thomas L Schubeck, S.J., teaches social ethics at John Carroll University, Univer-
sity Heights, Ohio (2004).
Dennis C. Smolarski, S.J., teaches mathematics and computer science at Santa Clara
University, Santa Clara, Cal. (2003).
The opinions expressed in STUDIES are those of the individual authors thereof.
Parentheses designate year of entry as a Seminar member.
Copyright © 2004 and published by the Seminar on Jesuit Spirituality
Publication Office
Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits
3601 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63108
(Tel. 314-977-7257; Fax 314-977-7263)
(E-mail ijs@slu.edu
Editorial Office
Faber House
102 College Road
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467-3841
(Tel. 617-552-0860; Fax 617-552-0925)
(E-mail flemingpb@bc.edu)
The Incarnational Dynamic
of the Constitutions
Janos Lukacs, S.J.
STUDIES IN THE SPIRITUALITY OF JESUITS
36/4 • WINTER 2004
The first word . . .
Sometime during the festivities surrounding an ordination, a beefy relative
or longtime family friend will approach the new priest with a broad grin,
and searching for an appropriate expression of congratulations will boom
out, "Well, you made it!" From his perspective, the sentiment really hits
close to the bull's-eye in many ways. For people used to a more normal
educational flight path, our decade-plus of looping the academic loops
must seem an incredible ordeal. Priesthood comes as a reward if not for
survival, then at least for endurance. For an outsider looking in, it means a
transition from an endless hitch in boot camp to a seat at officers' mess.
From the perspective of a Jesuit looking down the golden barrel of a
fast-approaching jubilee, concluding that someone "made it" at ordination
seems a bit premature, to say the least. In the thick chronicle of a Jesuit's
life, the event fits more properly into preface than afterword. Undeniably,
of course, it does mark a transition of sorts and does call for a celebration,
but it's worth reflecting on the nature of the change in the life experience
of the men making the transition. It provides opportunities for new sacra-
mental ministries, to be sure, but in a way that would surprise most guests
at the first-Mass reception, little else really changes. Most go back to
studies of some kind for a while, continue to live in a community, and face
continued evaluations by superiors, tertian instructors, thesis directors,
principals, provincials, and pastors. And of course the holy oils do not
make a wise, compassionate minister out of a self-centered fool. The newly
ordained may get a seat at officers' mess, but he still takes his turn at
washing the dishes and putting out the garbage.
Before angrily casting this aside as one more screed of a self-hating
anticlerical cleric from the lost generation, please read a bit more. The
suggestion I'm trying to insinuate into our thinking about formation and
ordination is a retrieval of a sense of the continuum of Jesuit life. Our
discourse has been imperceptibly dominated by a rhetoric of segmentation.
We think of different phases of Jesuit life as "milestones." Some are met
and passed with joy, as in the case of first vows and ordination; others
with dread, as in the case of stepping down from a leadership role or re-
tirement; from moving up to being moved out. Note the change to passive
voice. We emphasize the transitions, and downplay the continuities. In a
word, it's really quite difficult for us to think of Jesuit life as a whole, and
as a result, we have to cope with several unarticulated consequences, like
resentment and frustration.
This conceptual fragmentation of Jesuit life probably stems from the
stark ruptures that mark our early years. After a prescribed number of
years, usually two or three, we go through a process of rigorous evaluation,
and if approved, move to a different community in a different city and
begin an entirely different form of activity. We think of it as inevitable
progress to move from one predetermined stage to another through the
course of training to some readily definable goal like ordination. Unfortu-
nately, the process can lead to a contest model. Ask anyone with experi-
ence in formation. Moving on can be understood as a right that is due me,
but superiors can block me through some insidious abuse of power. In
such an atmosphere of confrontation, it becomes easy to function with a
presumption of sinister intent. Superiors must be acting from prejudice,
ignorance, or malice; protesters from wounded pride. It's hard to feel that
everyone is on the same side, trying to choose the greater good for the
Church, the Society, and especially the individual. The segmentation
model readily provides the seedbed for divisiveness and resentment.
The toughest transition of all for many young Jesuits, I'm con-
vinced, takes place sometime after ordination, when the young priest or
brother receives his first permanent assignment. The support of a peer
group of contemporaries is gone, and he may be the youngest man in the
house by thirty years or more. The older men will surely welcome him as a
sign of the province's commitment to the apostolate, but in many insidi-
ous ways, they can marginalize him as an inexperienced kid who can't
change the community's time-tested way of proceeding. He's cheeky for
trying. In the past, in a tough situation, the young Jesuit could take
strength from the fact that in a couple of years, he'd be moving on to the
next phase of his training. This time the assignment is for keeps. The
mind-set of the fragmentation model runs into the reality of the continu-
um, and the result can take the form of enormous frustration and aliena-
tion.
Many older men can experience the mind-set of segmentation in an
oddly contrarian fashion. Transition from one state to another is some-
thing that took place in the past, and today belongs to the world of young-
er Jesuits, especially those in formation. In their training, these Jesuits
happily made all the prescribed transitions, but at some point they enter
into a would-be final segment and stop. They've made it, and no further
adjustments are necessary. If any further transitions do come, as they must
inevitably, the result can be traumatic.
Like many a haustus-room bloviation, this has been long on point-
ing to a perceived problem, and short on indicating solutions. And perhaps
its provocative generalizations may lead to a further reflection and conver-
sation in both boot-camp barracks and officers' mess.
If so, the fulminations have served their purpose.
IV
However, we won't end this introductory phase of conversation with
merely a description of a problem. At this point, I'm delighted to intro-
duce Janos Lukacs, a Jesuit from the Hungarian Province, who proposes a
way to think about Jesuit life in terms of its unities rather than its seg-
ments. Taking his lead from developmental psychology, he proposes a way
to link the Spiritual Exercises with the Constitutions and read both docu-
ments in terms underlying continuity of the various stages a Jesuit encoun-
ters in his own growth in holiness, from the novitiate to the period after
tertianship and through the years of one's active ministry. He recognizes
the fact that most Jesuits have spent little time with the Constitutions, and
thus uses the more familiar Exercises as a key to unlock the document that
Ignatius intended as a guide for Jesuits in their lifelong ministries.
This essay is not a translation. In the tradition of Vladimir Nabokov
and Jerzy Kozinski, Janos has taken English as his adopted language and
made it his own, much to the embarrassment and admiration of us native
speakers who still wrestle with syntax and metaphor. His clear, graceful
prose is a pleasure to read, and his elucidation of the Ignatian documents
provides much to think about.
Richard A. Blake, S.J.
Editor
CONTENTS
The Ailing Wing of Contemporary
Ignatian Spirituality 1
I. The Constitutions in Jesuit Life, Present
and Past: A Lame Wing 4
II. The Dynamic of the Spiritual Exercises 7
III. A Dynamic of the Constitutions? 11
Part III of the Constitutions: The Novitiate 17
Part IV of the Constitutions: Scholastic Life 26
Part V of the Constitutions: Tertianship 32
Part VI of the Constitutions: After Final Vows 36
The Vows 38
IV. Possible Methods for Continuing
the Exploration 41
Theory and Practice in Understanding
the Constitutions 45
Supplemental Bibliography 47
mi
Janos Lukacs, S.J., has been serving as director of
novices for the Hungarian Province since 2002. After
earning a degree in computer science, he studied
theology for two years and then entered the newly
reconstituted Hungarian Province in 1991. After do-
ing philosophy in Munich and theology in Paris, he
became socius to the novice director. He came to
Weston Jesuit School of Theology, in Cambridge,
Mass., where he received his S.T.L. in spiritual theol-
ogy. He has translated a new Hungarian edition of
the Autobiography of Saint Ignatius. He can be reached
at his e-mail address: Lukacs@jesuits.net.
The Incarnational Dynamic
of the Constitutions
Both authored by St. Ignatius, the Spiritual Exercises and
the Constitutions propose an identical path to holiness. The
first outlines the steps leading to a life commitment, and the
other proposes concrete means for bringing it to fulfillment.
Their common dynamic manifests itself in the stages of
development Ignatius prescribes for those who have been
called to a life of service and contemplation in the Society.
The Ailing Wing of Contemporary
Ignatian Spirituality
As a child, I remember once catching sight of a bird that
impressed me by its size and by its sleek silhouette; I could
easily imagine it taking pleasure in flying high up in the sky,
confronting the elements and reaching high speeds with ease and
gracefulness. But the bird — I could not tell what kind it was — was
visibly not well. It was flying with great difficulty from one tree to
the other. As I took a closer look, I observed one wing full of life, the
other lame, hardly having the strength to glide even for a few
seconds.
In some ways, this appears to be an apt image of contempo-
rary Ignatian spirituality, some forty years into an unparalleled
movement of renewal in the Society of Jesus. In accord with the
intention of the Second Vatican Council to renew religious life in the
Church, the Thirty-first General Congregation (1965-66) initiated a
thorough transformation of Jesuit life. By adopting the double goal
2 <$> JANOS LUKACS, S.J.
of "adaptation and renewal/' 1 the congregation confirmed the insight
of the council that there is a necessary correlation between returning
to the founding charism and opening new windows to the modern
world. 2 A fresh look at Ignatian sources was seen as a necessary
condition for an authentic aggiornamento: in the Society governance,
formation, and ministries were to be adapted to "modern ways and
necessities of living" in a way that in the meantime would ensure
that "the very spiritual heritage of our Institute . . . [was] to be
purified and enriched anew according to the necessities of our
times" (GC3132, 74, nos. 20 f.).
In the subsequent sweeping renewal the Spiritual Exercises
played a key role. A return to the practice of the first generation of
Jesuits of giving the Exercises to individuals rather than to groups
served in an exemplary way the
^ — — — — — double goal of the congregation,
Although scholarly interest bein S more rooted in th , e 1 § natia "
has not been lacking, tradition on . the one hand and
.. T .. £ . j offering pertinent support to our
practical reception of the ° r . , rr ., m
r ~ ..... , , » . t contemporaries on the other. The
Constitutions lags behind , . L , r L ,. t , ,
» <> „i o . . i f ruj t of this renewal has become
that of the Spiritual . c . u j .
_ { r manifest by now, and contempo-
rary Jesuits are by and large famil-
__ __ mm ^^_^^_ iar with them. The book of the
Spiritual Exercises has become a
favorite "lifeline" to our Ignatian roots. 3 It is often in our hands, and
it is a "living" text. We consult it habitually and find it quite mean-
ingful in a variety of personal or pastoral situations, including areas
like spiritual direction, our understanding of religious life, integra-
The Renewal of Our Laws, in Documents of the 31st and 32nd General
Congregation of the Society of Jesus (St. Louis: The Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1977), 73,
no. 18. Hereafter this source will be abbreviated to GC3132, followed by the page
number and the boldface marginal number.
Perfectee Caritatis: Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life, in
Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents, ed. Austin Flannery
(Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press, 1975), 612, no. 2.
The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius, ed. with notes and commentary by
George E. Ganss, S.J. (St. Louis: The Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1992). Hereafter this
source will be abbreviated to SpEx, followed by the boldface marginal number,
sometimes a superscript "verse number," and then the page number in parentheses.
All emphases in the quotations have been added to the original text.
The Incarnational Dynamic of the Constitutions •& 3
tion of psychological insights into Ignatian spirituality, support
offered to lay co-workers, and the like. In the midst of a postmodern
culture and a post-Vatican II Church, the book of the Spiritual
Exercises has returned to being foundational for our Jesuit identity.
In comparison, the other principal Ignatian source, the Consti-
tutions, is less a favorite. Although scholarly interest has not been
lacking, practical reception of the Constitutions lags behind that of
the Spiritual Exercises.* Apart from being an important theme in the
novitiate and in the tertianship, the Constitutions remain relatively
insignificant in our daily lives as Jesuits. We seldom declare today
that our identity is in the Constitu-
tions, and we rarely refer to this
text when talking about our be- We might be flying on just
longing to the Society. In practical one Ignatian wing because
matters there is a tangible reluc- our approach to the
tance to rely on this Ignatian text, Constitutions is in some
in sharp contrast to the central ways unsatisfactory.
role that we tend to attribute to
the book of the Exercises. For ex- "^ — —" —
ample, although several parts of
the Constitutions describe in detail Ignatius's idea of Jesuit formation,
this book has hardly been a reference in the meetings of formators
that I attended in various provinces in recent years. We seem to
draw on our two major Ignatian sources in a very uneven way, as if
one wing of our contemporary Jesuit spirituality were full of life and
the other lame.
I will begin this essay by sketching out our heritage of a
troubled relationship with the Constitutions. I will then examine more
in detail how in the case of our other primary Ignatian source, the
Spiritual Exercises, we have become skilled at using this Ignatian text
in a contemporary cultural environment. Next, I will propose a way
to use the wealth of our experience in giving the Spiritual Exercises
as an approach to the Constitutions. The nature of these consider-
See Ignacio Iparraguirre, S.J., Contemporary Trends in Studies on the
Constitutions of the Society of Jesus: Annotated Bibliographical Orientations (St. Louis: The
Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1974), and an updated bibliography in Carlos Coupeau,
"Beginning, Middle, and End: A Rhetorical Study of the Constitutions of the Society
of Jesus as a Classic of Spirituality" (S.T.D. thesis, Weston Jesuit School of Theology,
2001).
4 -0- JAnos Lukacs, S.J.
ations will be suggestive rather than probative; some possible ways
of developing a more systematic approach will be proposed in a
subsequent chapter.
I. The Constitutions in Jesuit Life, Present
and Past: A Lame Wing
Several recent general congregations addressed the question of
how pertinent the Constitutions are to our daily Jesuits lives.
The promulgation of the Complementary Norms by the most
recent congregation was a major effort to promote "an ever more
perfect observance of our Constitutions and our Institute/' 5 In the
meantime, Father General directed the attention of the participants
of the Thirty-fourth General Congregation to the original Ignatian
text: "Without this book of challenges and reminders, our desire to
go forward remains without perspectives and without energy." 6 In
the course of our continuing Ignatian renewal, we are called to give
a more prominent place to the Constitutions in our Jesuit lives than
before.
Yet, in a postmodern culture, a more immediate use of the
Constitutions is not necessarily seen as a realistic or desirable goal.
The bias for the Exercises in our contemporary Jesuit life, the enthusi-
asm for the one text and the distance from the other, seems to result
from a deep-seated suspicion that the two texts are of unequal value.
The question is often asked whether or not the book of the Constitu-
tions is simply much more dependent on a sixteenth-century cultural
context than the Exercises. The tacit assumption we seem to make is
that the Ignatius of the Exercises was interested in personal freedom
and encountering the Spirit, whereas the Ignatius of the Constitutions
The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus and Their Complementary Norms: A
Complete English Translation of the Official Latin Texts (Saint Louis: The Institute of
Jesuit Sources, 1996), 57. Hereafter this source will be abbreviated to ConsCN,
followed by C and the boldface paragraph number when the reference is to the text
of the Constitutions. Sometimes the paragraph number is followed by a superscript
"verse number." All emphases in the quotations have been added to the original text.
"On Our Law and Our Life," third introductory discourse of Father General
Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., delivered on January 7, 1995, in Documents of the Thirty-
Fourth General Congregation of the Society of Jesus (Saint Louis: The Institute of Jesuit
Sources), 278. This latter source will hereafter be abbreviated to GC34.
The Incarnational Dynamic of the Constitutions ^ 5
was concerned with organizational development and prescriptions.
As if the author of the two were not the same man, in the Exercises
we intuitively sense freedom, while in the Constitutions, we tend to
perceive regulations that go against our desire for freedom.
As Father General said during his introductory discourse to
the Thirty-fourth Congregation, modern readers of the Constitutions
are confronted with "the eternal problem that brings the letter into
conflict with the Spirit, the institu-
tion in conflict with the charism" — ^ ^— — ^^—
(278). Our current perspective dif- NkoUs Bobadula expressed
fers from that of Ignatius for Mg reservations by claiming
whom particular details of the ., . „., ^ ... ..
„ ,., ,. ,, that the Constitutions were
Constitutions were apparently not , 7 . , , . xr , ir
,, rr , , J , a prolix labyrinth that
in opposition to the freedom he ..» . 7 • .
j . j t tah- neither superiors nor subjects
desired Jesuits to acquire. When r J
describing Jesuit formation in the
Constitutions, he writes with an to understand.
"assurance that those who are not ^ _ _
yet sufficiently advanced will be
able to discover in the Constitutions advice and instruction for mak-
ing progress on the way" (276). In the Ignatian vision, there seems to
be no antagonistic opposition between Spirit and Letter:
It is important to learn from Ignatius's experience. ... All one has to
do is to open up the book of the Spiritual Exercises and to leaf
through the book of the Constitutions to come face to face with
Ignatius and his great inspirations, his wide horizons, his worldwide
measures; and also with an Ignatius who goes into the least detail
and particulars of conduct and process. We do not have a double
personality here, or two parallel records of activity. Ignatius allows
himself to be taken over by the logic of the Incarnate Word in whom
true infinity and actual finiteness are joined together. (278)
In other words, as we take a closer look at the two Ignatian
texts, we discover that both imply a sense of freedom and a multi-
tude of meticulously articulated details. The difference could be lying
not in the texts but in the way we understand them. We might be
flying on just one Ignatian wing because our approach to the Consti-
tutions is in some ways unsatisfactory.
Recent history of Ignatian spirituality suggests that this suspi-
cion is quite plausible. Until about fifty years ago, our use of the
Spiritual Exercises was unsatisfactory in the sense that we did not
6 <f JANOS LUKACS, SJ.
recognize this text as a handbook for directors of individually di-
rected retreats. Although Jesuits certainly used much of the Exercises
as a basis for preached retreats, the intended function of the book
was not quite understood. It was not clear how the text described a
specific relationship between a director and a directee, and a series
of ingenious exercises to introduce individuals into a personal
experience of God. As a result, particular details (like many of the
annotations) were overlooked because they did not appear pertinent
to retreats that were not individually directed. Similarly today, while
we are aware of the significance of the Constitutions, we read them,
and often enough have even prayed over them, but we have yet to
learn how to use this text. It looks as if history may be repeating
itself.
Our contemporary difficulties are not unrelated to similar
difficulties in the past. Even before the promulgation of the Constitu-
tions, Nicolas Bobadilla expressed his reservations by claiming that
"the Constitutions were a 'prolix labyrinth' that neither superiors nor
subjects would ever be able to un-
derstand. ,/7 In fact, the text never
served as a practical rule for life in
By putting Ignatian means, Jesuit houses. For practical pur-
including minute details poses, as John O'Malley informs
of the "letter" of the text, us, both Ignatius and local superi-
at the service of a dynamic ors compiled sets of rules, based
progression toward God, we on excerpts from the Constitutions,
become spiritual guides with that were to be observed in partic-
some quite extraordinary ular residences and by persons
competencies in a holding specific offices in the
contemporary cultural context. house (337). In 1580 Mercurian
published an official Summary that
became a common set of rules to
be observed throughout the Soci-
ety. Summaries were welcomed because they served well the imme-
diate objective of offering "traffic regulations for larger communities,"
allowing Jesuits "to adapt easily and feel at home as they moved
from house to house, from country to country" (338).
7
See John O'Malley, The First Jesuits (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University
Press, 1993), 334.
The Incarnational Dynamic of the Constitutions ^ 7
In an indirect way, however, summaries contributed to ob-
structing the reception of the Constitutions in the Society. Summaries
conserved many elements of the Ignatian text but did not reproduce
the context of the Ignatian vision within which particular details
were to be interpreted. The official Summary presented universally
valid prescriptions, prescinding from an individual's progress in
religious life and of his degree of incorporation into the body of the
Society. 8 Although specific elements of the Constitutions were com-
monly known, they were not necessarily seen as being in the service
of a dynamic progression toward God, in growing freedom in the
Spirit. 9 Bluntly put: in the early history of the Society, the door was
opened for a vital feature of the Constitutions to be missed. As a
result, the understanding of the Institute of the Society could be
determined — in a more or less domineering way — by a flat legalistic
interpretation. Up to the Second Vatican Council, such legalistic use
of excerpts from the Constitutions played an important role in main-
taining a preconciliar Jesuit lifestyle, which in many aspects proved
to be deficient in leading Jesuits to greater freedom in the Spirit in
the modern world. As we open the book of the Constitutions today,
our efforts to understand the text seem to be still burdened by this
heritage: we do not tend to marvel at and to explore this Ignatian
text with the same inner openness that we bring to the study of the
Spiritual Exercises.
II. The Dynamic of the Spiritual Exercises
The book of the Spiritual Exercises envisages a dynamic progres-
sion toward greater freedom in the Spirit to love and serve
under the Standard of Christ; in contemporary Ignatian
spirituality, this purpose of the Spiritual Exercises is self-evident. This
self-evident statement has been the basis for a profusion of research
on the text of the Exercises, for the simple reason that its particular
Coupeau, "Beginning, Middle, and End," 26 f .
"The Summary of the Constitutions served us well, but it was defective. It was
as though someone took King Lear and extracted the great speeches and lyrical
passages, arranged them in some rough logical order, dismembered the text,
dislocated the dramatic structure and destroyed the story. And then said, there you
have the essence of King Lear" (Joseph Veale, "How the Constitutions Work," in The
Way, Supplement 61 [Spring 1988], 9).
8 <v^ JANOS LUKACS, S.J.
details could be studied under the specific angle of how they fos-
tered a dynamic progression toward God. Similarly, in our practice
of giving the Exercises, we are confident that particular Ignatian
exercises and teachings will help a retreatant who is seeking greater
freedom in the Spirit. Our familiarity with the overall purpose of the
Exercises enables us to apply the Ignatian exercises specifically or to
adapt them freely according to what seems best in a particular
situation. In other words, both in scholarly research and in giving
the Exercises, we are spontaneously capable of understanding the
"letter" as being in the service of growth in the Spirit.
As we quite spontaneously relate particular elements of the
text (like the "requirement/ 7 to feel sorrow over one's sins during the
First Week) to the overarching horizon of a progression toward God,
we rely on our implicit sense of the psycho-spiritual process that we
call the "dynamic of the Exercises." Those giving the Exercises
progressively develop a sense of
_^^^^^^^_ - ^^^^^^^^ — this mysterious dynamic that be-
comes an almost tangible reality in
We are well aware that no the inte nsive days of a retreat.
one will mechanically receive This is one of the most surprising
a grace by doing an exercise: features of the Exercises: "Despite
we know, and we experience, a n differences, and the enduring
that grace is always a gift, uniqueness of each exercitant,
and there is always there still exists a fundamental dy-
an element of surprise and namic which is the same for all." 10
freshness in this gift. Once we become familiar with this
dynamic, particular details in the
book of the Spiritual Exercises be-
gin to make sense, because we can see their fruit in our practice of
helping others. By putting Ignatian means, including minute details
of the "letter" of the text, at the service of a dynamic progression
toward God, we become spiritual guides with some quite extraordi-
nary competencies in a contemporary cultural context.
First, when giving retreats we can set up a favorable physical,
psychological, and spiritual environment that optimally serves the
needs of a person in search of God. For example, we see the impor-
Alex Lefrank and Maurice Giuliani, Freedom for Service: Dynamics of the
Ignatian Exercises as Currently Understood and Practiced (Rome: World Federation of
Christian Life Communities, 1989), 12.
The Incarnational Dynamic of the Constitutions <& 9
tance of the annotations, and we are able to adapt them flexibly to
particular circumstances.
Second, with a sense of the dynamic of the Exercises, we are
capable of going right to the heart of the matter in a great variety of
human situations. In a respectful way, we examine individuals from
a specific angle and assess where they are situated along the trajec-
tory of the psycho-spiritual process of the Exercises or indeed
whether they are on that path. Once we answer this question, we
can identify the most basic and most pressing spiritual needs of the
person (that is, the grace of feeling
loved by God or seeing one's sin- _ mmmm ^^_ mm ^ _____
fulness or perceiving similar expe-
riences). As directors of the Exer- Both texts capture a single
cises, we turn towards these Ignatian vision of a
needs, convinced that no real progression toward God, and
progress is possible until the grace we can— in theory— expect
of this particular stage has been our familiarity with the
truly asked for and received. Exercises to he of help in
Third, we become able to grasping the dynamic
help a person by means of specific °f ^ e Constitutions,
exercises. These exercises, we ___________ ____
firmly believe, will dispose the
person to receiving a desired grace. We are well aware that no one
will mechanically receive a grace by doing an exercise: we know,
and we experience, that grace is always a gift, and there is always an
element of surprise and freshness in this gift. Yet we are quite
certain that the desired gift will arrive quite soon, and that the
particular exercise is likely to open the door to it in some way. We
cannot read the mind of God, but our experience, together with the
authority of the Spiritual Exercises, tells us what we can reasonably
hope to happen.
Fourth, as a result of these steps, retreatants can enjoy recur-
ring periods of consolation that confirm, in retrospect, the sometimes
quite strenuous struggle that preceded these consolations. A re-
newed sense of freedom, meaningfulness, and trust in God is such a
precious experience that it generally leads to an increased desire for
God. Thus, the dynamic of the Exercises itself is confirmed, and the
retreatant is called to engage more fully in it. The dynamic of the
Exercises, once it has taken off, is usually self-sustaining. If the
retreat goes well, then the director of the Exercises can progressively
10 ^ JAnos Lukacs, SJ.
retire to the background and leave the guidance more and more
directly to the Spirit.
Fifth, the director of the Exercises enjoys a rare privilege in the
midst of a pervasively anti-authoritarian postmodern culture: one
has surprisingly little difficulty exercising authority. Overt or re-
pressed conflicts between the retreatant and the director are rela-
tively rare. This is quite remarkable because, from a third person's
point of view, the director can be quite authoritarian; little details of
one's daily routine — sleeping and eating habits, rest and physical
exercise — can all be subject to the director's judgment. Why does one
submit oneself so eagerly to such an authority? The Exercises cer-
tainly do not eliminate all conflict in a dreamlike, undisturbed
atmosphere. But the primary place of conflict is not between the
retreatant and the director. Conflict is stirred within the retreatant,
who experiences a more-or-less manifest clash of mighty internal
forces. With the help of the rules for the discernment of the spirits,
these internal forces can be identified as influences of the good or
the bad spirit, supportive of or contrary to "what I want/ 7 Conse-
quently, the retreatant develops a deep sense of whether he or she
is moving "forward" or not. Someone who is engaged in the dy-
namic of the Exercises will thus perceive the director's more or less
authoritative or even somewhat clumsy support as a valuable, most
welcome assistance in moving toward the desired direction in the
midst of strong, conflicting spiritual motions.
These examples show the extent to which our awareness of
the psycho-spiritual dynamic of the Exercises is constitutive of a
practical Ignatian spirituality. This dynamic is what makes the book
of the Exercises special: it weaves various meditations, considerations,
methods of prayer, and conversations with the director together in a
way that the whole enhances the meaningfulness of each element.
The significant difference between our practice of using Ignatian
elements within the Exercises and outside them can be explained by
this central feature of the Exercises. At present, our efforts in the
area of formation seem to lack the synergy that we know from the
Exercises precisely because we do not have a comparable sense of
the spiritual (and also psychological) process of transformation that
will take place during the long years of Jesuit formation.
The Incarnational Dynamic of the Constitutions ^ 11
III. A Dynamic of the Constitutions?
Is there a way to conceive of our entire Jesuit life as a whole, as a
coherent, dynamic process, enabling familiar Ignatian elements
to work in synergy in the same way as they do within the
Spiritual Exercises? There are indications that Ignatius did have an
implicit sense of such a dynamic. His letters suggest that when
dealing with fellow Jesuits, he was in possession of the remarkable
"competencies" that we know from our practice of giving the Spiri-
tual Exercises: going right to the heart of the matter and being
authoritative, yet perceived as supportive. In an era when religious
life was so corrupted that it had little if any appeal, Ignatius was
able to accompany young men beyond the intensive days of the
Spiritual Exercises into a life choice that they found — even in the
midst of extreme hardships — grace filled, meaningful, and satisfying,
rather like a person engaged in doing the Spiritual Exercises.
The text of the Constitutions also gives some hints about a
dynamic movement toward God. Expressions like "progress" and
"progressing in the Spirit" are not
rare, and some commentators sug-
gest that "we can detect in the The Constitutions concern
Constitutions a dynamic similar to themselves with the question
that of the Spiritual Exercises." 11 of how an initial, fragile, and
Regrettably, these authors tend to often quite volatile spiritual
remain within the limits of a "spir- movement can be embodied
itually insightful or "sapientielle" { n concrete situations
reading," 12 giving little information f faHy Ufa
about how this dynamic is to be
conceived. The most direct evi- ^— — — — — ^— ^^— -
dence for the significant role of a
developmental dynamic can be found by recalling that Ignatius
intended to follow a developmental pattern in the very way he
organized the Constitutions:
Andre de Jaer, S.J., Together for Mission: A Spiritual Reading of the
Constitutions of the Society of Jesus (Saint Louis: The Institute of Jesuit Sources, 2001),
75. See also Dominique Bertrand, Un Corps pour tEsprit: Essai sur I' experience
communautaire selon les Constitutions de la Compagnie de Jesus (Paris: Desclee de
Brouwer, 1974), 11-41.
12
De Jaer, Together for Mission, vii.
12 <f JAnos Lukacs, S.J.
In fact, the originality of the Constitutions was nowhere more striking
than in the developmental design according to which they followed
the Jesuit from entrance into the Society through to his commission-
ing. . . . Like the Exercises, the Constitutions were based on a presup-
position that psychological or spiritual growth will take place, and
they provided for it by prescribing certain things as appropriate for
beginners and suggesting others as appropriate for more seasoned
members. 13
Ignatius chose to organize the material of the Constitutions in
such a way that its very structure reflects a basic concern for the
development of individuals. Although "in the order of [his] inten-
tion" the actual focus of the Constitutions was "the body of the
Society taken as a whole" (ConsCN
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ C 135 vl ), this theme is covered
only in the second half of the text,
The initial reactions of a since "this body is composed of its
novice who finds himself in members; and . . . that which
the unusual milieu of the takes place first is what pertains to
novitiate will be mixed. On the individual members, in the
the one hand, he is likely to sequence of admitting them [and]
be consoled by the promise of fostering their progress. . . . There-
a new start in community. fore our treatise will deal first with
On the other hand, he will these individual members" (C
find that his usual ways of 135 vv ).
finding joy and security in Ignatius explicitly included
daily life have been seriously this point in the Preamble of the
reduced. Constitutions so that the idea of
successive stages of progression
would not be lost. Consequently,
it seems reasonable to assume that the Constitutions are to be
opened, not unlike the Spiritual Exercises, as a handbook for those
who are familiar with an underlying developmental dynamic.
At this point however, we encounter a major dilemma. If a
sense of an underlying developmental dynamic is the key to under-
standing the Constitutions, then how can one develop a sufficiently
strong sense of this dynamic? Can it be "extracted" from the text? If
the Constitutions work in the same way as the Exercises, then the
answer is yes and no. No, because an awareness of the developmen-
13
O'Malley, First Jesuits, 336 f.
The Incarnational Dynamic of the Constitutions ^ 13
tal dynamic is the very precondition for understanding the text; it
cannot be a priori extracted from it. And yes, because with however
limited an initial sense of the underlying dynamic, the text can be
expected to open up and reveal itself, very much as the text of the
Exercises reveals more and more fully the astounding richness of its
spiritual dynamic for a director who has given the thirty-day retreat
once, twice, or several times.
To get out of the Catch-22 dilemma, we can turn to the Exer-
cises. Commentators often refer to the Exercises when faced with the
problem that the Constitutions are hard to understand:
The Constitutions are unintelligible apart from the experience of
making the Exercises. There is an organic relationship between the
two. It is helpful, as one reads the Constitutions and tries to live
them, to see the Exercises coming through and to see the differences,
to see how they cast light on the Exercises and how the Exercises
cast light on them. 14
Both texts capture a single Ignatian vision of a progression
toward God, and we can — in theory — expect our familiarity with the
Exercises to be of help in grasping the dynamic of the Constitutions.
Surprisingly, the central aspect
that we are interested in — a pro- ^^^^^^— ^— ^^^^^^— —
gressive development in growing Retreatants often
freedom in the Spirit — is by and . , ,1 . u
. . . , r J spontaneously express this by
large missing from commentaries r . . . » . . xf
., ~ ° ,. ~ ... .. , beginning to reflect in the
that compare the Constitutions to , ' °, °, 1 A ,
.v r, F A A , , A . , last days of a retreat about
the Exercises. Antonio M. de Alda- , r .„ , ., ,
c i c how it will be possible to
ma, for example, gives a range of . .«-•«.*«
reasons why the Exercises can be tncarnate in daily life the
called the "soul of the Constitu- graces received.
tions" (the testimony of the First ^ ^ ^^^^_
Companions, the similarity of basic
dispositions formed by the Spiritual Exercises and expected by the
Constitutions, a similar vocabulary, and other such examples), with-
out emphasizing that the common purpose of both texts is to foster
a progression toward God through well-defined stages. 15 Secondary
14 Veale, "How the Constitutions Work/' 6.
15
Antonio M. de Aldama, S.J., "iLos ejercicios espirituales son el alma de las
constituciones?" in Recherches Ignatiennes Communications, III-74/1.
14 <0> JAnos LukAcs, SJ.
literature offers only some rather vague hints of a similarity between
both Ignatian texts and developmental processes:
[In the Constitutions] the [General] Examen and Parts I-V, treating
the formation of the individual, can be compared to the first two
Weeks of the Exercises. . . . Formation is like a practical daily imple-
mentation of the process shown in the Exercises. Part V, dealing with
definitive incorporation through the vows, corresponds to the Elec-
tion, while Parts VI to X, which concern the life of the companion
fully formed . . . can be clarified by the contemplation of the paschal
mystery in the Third and Fourth Weeks. 16
The insight that there is a parallelism between the Exercises
and the Constitutions is quite inspiring, and a closer look at the
structure of the Constitutions suggests that one can go further in
exploring this parallelism. Of the ten parts, Parts I to VI mirror the
developmental vision of Ignatius:
Part I discusses questions of admission to the novitiate.
Part II deals with eventualities of dismissal.
Part III treats life in the novitiate.
Part IV speaks about issues concerning scholastics.
Part V discusses final incorporation into the Society including
tertianship.
Part VI is entitled "The Personal Life of Those Already Admit-
ted or Incorporated into the Society/ 7
For our purposes, Parts III to VI are of immediate interest.
Parts VII to X will not be considered here because these leave be-
hind the idea of individual development and turn toward issues
concerning the whole of the body of the Society (missioning, foster-
ing unity, governance, and preservation of its well-being). For
reasons of simplicity, Parts I and II, which do not refer to extended
periods of time, can also be set aside, allowing a clearer focus on
Parts III to VI. These four parts are unique in the sense that they
describe four distinct phases of Jesuit life — the novitiate, scholastic
years, tertianship, and professed life — that are sufficiently long for
"progress" to be made in a developmental dynamic. For a given
De Jaer, Together for Mission, 76.
The Incarnational Dynamic of the Constitutions <? 15
individual, these four parts flesh out what Ignatius called, when
presenting the Institute of the Society, a "pathway to God." 17
Between the two forms of the Ignatian "pathway to God," that
of the Constitutions and that of the Exercises, there are some obvious
similarities. The fact that the way to God consists of separate phases
is a familiar Ignatian feature: "[H]e was very aware of the distinctive-
ness of each stage on this long journey." 18 The number of these
stages is identical: both the Spiritual Exercises and the Constitutions
dedicate, as we have seen, four distinct sections to describing four
different phases of a progression toward God. At each phase the
individual is placed in front of a
new set of challenges, and it is by
means of facing these challenges
that progression toward God can Just as the book of the
be made: much as in the Exercises, Spiritual Exercises talks to
"[I]n the Constitutions Ignatius those who give the Exercises
wishes each to be able to advance rather than to the person
towards God according to the par- doing them, Part III talks for
ticular demands of each stage" the most part to those who
(276). facilitate the intended
The difference is that in the
Spiritual Exercises, one is expected ^^^^^^™^^_^^_^^_
to advance by "spiritual actions"
like "examining one's conscience, meditating, contemplating, praying
vocally and mentally," and so on: this is the very reason why we
talk about "spiritual exercises" (SpEx l vl [p. 21]). In the case of the
Constitutions, there is a noticeable change. The progression de-
manded here can be characterized as "incarnational":
[Ignatius] introduces the novice into a personal incarnational process
and an encounter with the real. . . . The spirit is allowed to immerse
itself in the concrete details of daily life by means of spiritual and
corporal exercises. . . . Perceptible here is an allusion to the descent
of Christ, who took the path of the poor and humble servant. ... A
dynamic of incarnation gets under way. 19
17
Exposcit debitum, by Julius III, known as "The Formula of the Institute of the
Society of Jesus/' in ConsCN p. 4, no. 1, col. 2.
is
"Kolvenbach, "On Our Law and Our Life/' 276.
19
De Jaer, Together for Mission, 54 f .
16 <Q> JANOS LUKACS, S.J.
Although Ignatian spirituality in its entirety can be character-
ized as "incarnational" and it would be impossible to understand the
Spiritual Exercises without assuming an incarnational concern, the
word designates a distinctive feature of the Constitutions. From the
Exercises to the Constitutions, there is a significant shift of focus. In
the Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius concentrates on an intensive time
spent exclusively with God, which implies the delicate beginnings of
an incarnational movement ("preparing and disposing the sour
[SpEx 1 (p. 21)]). The main concern here is a dynamic development
of spiritual movements like inner dispositions, thoughts, feelings,
memories, and desires, and so forth. In this sense, the Spiritual
Exercises are "spiritual" before being "incarnational." 20 Retreatants
often spontaneously express this by beginning to reflect in the last
days of a retreat about how it will be possible to incarnate in daily
life the graces received. In contrast, in the Constitutions — although
this book is not less "spiritual" than the Exercises — progression
towards God unfolds through a multitude of situations where the
primary focus is not on spiritual movements, but rather on using
material objects, relating to human beings, investing oneself in
studies, and the like. The Constitutions concern themselves with the
question of how an initial, fragile, and often quite volatile spiritual
movement can be embodied in concrete situations of daily life.
Progress toward God is made when an initial desire, insight, or
attitude — a spiritual reality — becomes incarnated in acts that bring a
Jesuit into actual contact with objects, persons, or even ideas that are
to be found in this created world. Throughout the Constitutions,
there is a distinctive concern that the incarnational movement does
not stop at the stage of a devout feeling, desire, or conviction, but
instead advances to the point of imprinting the historic reality of the
world, whether in a Jesuit community or in an apostolic work.
These are the criteria that I am going to take into consider-
ation when invoking the Spiritual Exercises as a canon of interpreta-
tion for the Constitutions, in the hope of being able to develop an
initial sense of a presumed "incarnational dynamic." At each stage of
20
Throughout this essay these two terms, each with a considerable theological
history, will be used in a specific sense, "spiritual" referring to interior movements
and "incarnational" meaning the realization, the embodiment, of a spiritual reality in
the sense that de Jaer uses the word. A theological interpretation ("perceptible here is
an allusion to the descent of Christ") would be possible, but it is not the topic of this
essay.
The Incarnational Dynamic of the Constitutions ^ 17
formation, I am going to evoke some instances where the practice of
giving the Exercises sheds light on the text of the Constitutions and
on the developmental dynamic of Jesuit life.
Part HI of the Constitutions: The Novitiate
The first paragraph of Part III of the Constitutions explains that
the goal of the novitiate is to advance "along the path of the divine
service/' 21 This opens a developmental perspective, where a person
can be expected "to make progress" (ConsCN C 243); in other words,
he goes through some kind of transformation. There are two aspects
of this transformation, a spiritual and an incarnational one, and the
two are connected: one should advance "both in spirit and in vir-
tues" (C 243). Progress in spirit refers to the "spiritual" exercises
explained in the First Annotation (SpEx 1 [p. 21]). Progress in "vir-
tues" indicates a more explicit incarnational concern; the dispositions
formed by spiritual exercises are expected to manifest themselves in
a visible way. The aim is to increase the ability of expressing a
disposition by means of concrete acts: "[A] virtue is a disposition to
act, desire, and feel that involves the exercise of judgment and leads
to recognizable human excellence, an instance of human flourish-
ing." 22 It is within this overarching dynamic of progressing in spirit
and in virtues that particular details of Part III are to be understood.
How do the Constitutions introduce novices into this move-
ment of progress? A number of elements are strikingly similar to the
First Week of the Exercises. First, the person going through a dy-
namic of transformation is not to carry the ultimate responsibility for
the process itself. Just as the book of the Spiritual Exercises talks to
those who give the Exercises rather than to the person doing them,
Part III talks for the most part to those who facilitate the intended
transition: "[D]ue consideration and prudent care should be em-
ployed toward preserving in their vocation those who are being kept
and tested" (ConsCN C 243 v4 ). Little progress can be made without a
21
For reasons of simplicity, I am going to concentrate on chap. 1 of Part III.
Chap. 2, "The Preservation of the Body/' which concerns matters of health and
clothing, will be ignored, as will the General Examen, which describes the six
novitiate experiments (C 64-79).
22
William C. Spohn, Go and Do Likewise: Jesus and Ethics (New York:
Continuum, 1999), 28, quoting from Lee H. Yearly, "Recent Work on Virtue," Religious
Studies Review 16 (1990): 2.
18 <0> Janos LukAcs, S.J.
competent guide: "It will be beneficial to have a faithful and compe-
tent person," a novice director who facilitates the developmental
movement (C 263 vl ).
The novice director has to fulfill two basic functions, support-
ing and challenging. This double role is familiar from the Exercises
(6f., 12 f. [pp. 23, 24f.]). In the novitiate, support is essential: novices
need "a person whom all those who are in probation may love . . .
to [have] recourse [to] in their temptations and open themselves [to]
with confidence, hoping to receive from him in our Lord counsel
and aid in everything" (ConsCN C 263 v2 ). The use of authority for
challenging individuals is also indispensable, just as it is when giving
the Exercises. Part of the novice director's role is to instruct the
novices "how to conduct themselves . . . , to encourage them to this,
to remind them of it, and to give
^^^^^^^^ mm ^^^^^^^^^ m ^ loving admonition" (C 263 vl ). The
_ w . . „ r seemingly opposing functions of
Realistically, respect for confirming and challenging are
others is hard to maintain intrinsically interconnected, much
because, as community as in our practice of g^g the
life gets intense, Spiritual Exercises, where we do
misunderstandings, not tend t0 have major difficulties
power games, all kinds of bringing these two aspects to-
weaknesses give way to more- gether.
or-less subtle hostilities. A second similarity „ that
___^_^«^^^^_^_ for growth to take place, a favor-
able environment, a safe "milieu,"
has to be set up. 23 This environment is denned primarily by a num-
ber of separations (C 244-49). In the Exercises, the secluded environ-
ment helps a person to become more "apt ... to approach and to
reach his Creator and Lord" (SpEx 20 v9 [p. 29]). In the case of the
Constitutions, a rather close group is formed where individuals will
have contacts — for the most part — with one another. 24 Similarly in
the Exercises there is a single focus on God; in the novitiate there is
a rather strong focus on a relatively small number of relationships.
De Jaer, Together for Mission, 55.
Some separations also exist within the group. This is how the group can be
"organ-ized," transformed into a "body," an organic unity, which is a major concern
of the Constitutions: "[T]he consideration which comes first and has more weight is
that about the body of the Society" (C 135 vl ).
The lncarnational Dynamic of the Constitutions <$- 19
This is where practically all "relational energies" are to be invested.
In the novitiate, a protected environment is a precondition for the
spiritual and incarnational dynamic to set in: "[I]t is of great impor-
tance . . . [for] their spiritual progress" (C 244 vl ). To create this
environment is one of the first areas where authority is to be used,
both in the novitiate and in the beginning of the Spiritual Exercises.
The initial reactions of a novice who finds himself in the
unusual milieu of the novitiate will be mixed. On the one hand, he
is likely to be consoled by the promise of a new start in community.
On the other hand, he will find that his usual ways of finding joy
and security in daily life have
been seriously reduced. For exam- ^ — —
pie, the satisfaction drawn from
using once familiar objects of com-
fort is gone: "[T]hey must not
have the use of anything as their
own" (C 254 vl ). The result is a ten-
sion, which is probably not explicit
at the beginning but will manifest
itself in a series of "ups and
downs." In other words, powerful
conflicting movements of consola-
tions and desolations can be antici-
pated, just as when things go well
in the First Week of the Exercises
(SpEx 6).
A third key similarity be-
tween Part III of the Constitutions
and the Exercises is that in this
disconcerting situation, uncondi-
tional respect and service are
asked for. The attitude of respect
and service rings a bell for those
familiar with the Exercises. The ^^__^^^^_^__«_
Third Annotation explains that
"greater reverence is required of us" when we want to speak to
God — enter a relationship with God — rather than simply making
reflections about God (3 [p. 22 v3 ). "Service" of God is part of the
grace asked for in the preparatory prayer of every single meditation
throughout the four Weeks: "[A]sk for the grace of God our Lord
Similarly, the Constitutions
identify two ways of
escaping the challenge of
interpersonal relationships.
The first is by retreating into
a kind of passivity, by
refusing to be drawn into
common life. Ignatius is
unambiguous on this point:
"[I]dleness, which is the
source of all evils, may have
no place in the house. " The
other way to harm a
relationship is by dominating
interpersonal situations with
overt or covert aggression.
Here, Ignatius is just as firm:
"[P]assion or any anger of
some toward others should
not be permitted. "
20 ^ JANOS LUKACS, SJ.
that all my intentions, actions and operations may be directed purely
to the service and praise of His Divine Majesty" (46 [p. 40]). The
Constitutions ask for a very similar attitude to be developed toward
everyone in the community: "In everything they should try and
desire to give the advantage to the others/' By this, more is asked
than simply doing things for others; there is question of relating to,
of being in the presence of, the other person in a particular way:
"showing outwardly, in an unassuming and simple religious man-
ner, the respect and reverence appropriate to each one's state"
(ConsCN C 250 v4 ). Simply put, novices are asked to be responsible for
the quality of their relationships with their companions in the house.
The Constitutions are not satisfied with a spiritual feeling or desire:
there is question of a richer, incarnational meaning of "respect" and
"service." Respectful attention is to be fleshed out by concrete acts
whenever appropriate: in the intensive context of a close commu-
nity, interpersonal relationships are to mirror Gospel values.
Reality is sure to fall short of ideals. The Constitutions foresee
this likelihood, and this is a fourth analogy with the Spiritual Exer-
cises. Realistically, respect for others is hard to maintain because, as
community life gets intense, misunderstandings, power games, all
kinds of weaknesses give way to
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ more-or-less subtle hostilities. The
result is the disappearance of re-
Intensive community life can S p ec t for others, and some kind of
help individuals to recognize harm caused to a number of rela-
these motivations to the tion ships.
extent that their effects Qne can harm a relat ionship
become visible; since they basically in one of two ways, both
damage interpersonal of which will be f am ii iar to an ex-
relationships, inclinations perienced retreat director, because
receive a moral evaluation, these are the very ways of break-
and they can be ing a relationship with God in
labeled as "evil. " prayer. One is by giving up, more
or less consciously ("this medita-
tion is not helping me, why
should I be sitting here?"), and the other is by becoming aggressive,
more or less consciously ("I have been waiting long enough, I want
this to happen"). A retreat director's job in such cases is to help a
person remain attentive in a developing relationship with God (SpEx
3, 12 f. [pp. 22, 24f.]). Similarly, the Constitutions identify two ways of
The Incarnational Dynamic of the Constitutions -0- 22
escaping the challenge of interpersonal relationships. The first is by
retreating into a kind of passivity, by refusing to be drawn into
common life. Ignatius is unambiguous on this point: "[IJdleness,
which is the source of all evils, may have no place in the house" (C
253 v3 ). The other way to harm a relationship is by dominating
interpersonal situations with overt or covert aggression. Here, Igna-
tius is just as firm: "[P]assion or any anger of some toward others
should not be permitted" (C 275 vl ).
A primary job of a novice director is to be a guardian of
human relationships, just as he is the guardian of a progressively
developing, fragile relationship with God when giving the Spiritual
Exercises. As long as the ideal of maintaining quality relationships
with everyone in the house is upheld under all conditions, he finds
himself in a position that is very similar to that of a retreat director:
he can help in very personal ways, in issues that matter most to a
given individual, always respecting the delicate dynamic that is
setting in. By assuming responsibility for creating the proper condi-
tions, he will become able to use his full spiritual and psychological
arsenal to help novices toward the desired developmental goal.
A fifth important similarity to the First Week of the Exercises is
that relationships can be fostered primarily through increasing the
awareness of a divided heart. Part III of the Constitutions challenges
novices to get beyond the very same obstacles that manifest them-
selves during the First Week; hence the prevalence of a traditional
"ascetic" vocabulary here. 25 With competent and compassionate help,
a novice can become aware of the negative motivations that are in
fundamental opposition to a basic desire to be in harmony with
others: prejudices, overt or repressed anger, fears, possessive tenden-
cies, lack of trust, laziness, impatience, and many other obstacles will
be discovered. These motions stem from the grey area where sin (for
which the person is responsible) and original sin (for which there is
no personal responsibility) intermingle; hence the neutral term: these
are "inclinations" (C 265 vl ). At the outset, such inclinations are
usually hidden, because they are to some extent unconscious and
"automatic": they spring from the "old self," which was conditioned
by childhood experiences or by later successes and failures in inter-
personal relationships. Intensive community life can help individuals
to recognize these motivations to the extent that their effects become
25
Bertrand, Un Corps pour I'Esprit, 103.
22 <0^ JAnos Lukacs, S.J.
visible; since they damage interpersonal relationships, inclinations
receive a moral evaluation, and they can be labeled as "evil" (C
265 vl ).
In the terminology of the Exercises, these evil inclinations are
elements of one's sinfulness that keep a person // imprisoned ,/ (47 v5
[p. 40]), unable to maintain close relationships in a habitual way. A
person incapable of discerning inner tensions will spontaneously
project these on others and will live with a deep sense of loneliness.
An insufficiently differentiated self-image is manifested in being
upset about "the speck of dust in
— ■*— ^^^^— ^— ^^^^^^ someone else's eye while not no-
It is also crucial to keep a ticin S the P lank in one ' s own/ ' In
space open where the divided the dense interpersonal milieu of
heart can be brought into an the novitiate, the most direct way
intimate relationship with to P ro g ress from imprisonment
God and healed in the tm ? rd freedom is b ^ ^cognizing
, r £ .1 iij. and naming internal tensions.
atmosphere of the absolute _. . ° .
. r j.i. * , . . Through recurring acts of reconcil-
ed wwcowazfaowfl/ foreu^we . ,. ° P , . a L .
t , ^ 1 J d d mtion, accompanied by reflections
love of God. u ;• i • j. i
3 on how particular interpersonal
, situations were spoiled, self-
knowledge can grow, and novices
can discover their particular way of being a "sinner yet called to be a
companion of Jesus" (GC34, 236, no. 538). With a new sense of
freedom, such a person is liberated to choose acts that are different
from what would have been motivated through unconscious, "auto-
matic" inclinations. Such acts advance the incarnational dynamic of
the Constitutions in the novitiate toward growing freedom in the
Spirit.
In a group where individuals recognize Gospel values as a
norm of behavior, their deep yearning for communion will be met.
To the extent that individuals make progress toward God, they
begin to perceive others with increasing empathy and become
capable of relating to them without fear or rivalry; in other words,
intimacy can permeate interpersonal relationships. This grace is
evocative of the First Week of the Exercises which leads — through
the meditation on one's sin and the recognition of a divided heart —
to an intimate, emotionally moving, and existentially transforming
encounter with Christ (SpEx 52 [p. 42]). One of the fruits of the First
Week is liberation from the loneliness inherent in sinfulness. Inter-
The Incarnational Dynamic of the Constitutions -0- 23
estingly, both the Exercises and the Constitutions express this through
allusions to the book of Genesis: at the beginning of this week, one
has the image of oneself as a person "exiled among brute beasts"
(SpEx 47 v6 [p. 40]), and when progress is made, one can begin to
perceive "God our Lord, whom each one should strive to recognize
in the other as in his image" (ConsCN C 250 v5 ).
In the delicate process of increasing awareness of self, instruc-
tions are one way of helping (C 277). One can clarify, for example,
how one of Ignatius's favorite expressions, "humility," consists in a
basic openness to the experience of the divided heart. It is also good
to invite novices to express themselves about First Week issues (C
280). More personalized and concrete hints to discover actual signs
of a divided heart can come either from the novice director or from
other members of the community (C 269-71). It is also crucial to
keep a space open where the divided heart can be brought into an
intimate relationship with God and healed in the atmosphere of the
absolute and unconditional forgiving love of God (C 261).
To foster the incarnational dynamic, the novice director can
make use of a special feature of his relationship with novices: obedi-
ence. Obedience, at this point, is an exceptional instrument for
leading persons to the critical
place where a clear choice can be ^— — — — ^^— —
made between conflicting motiva- Jhe . f wher£ Qm shmU
tions: one that is "automatic" be- • . n A •
... , . _. endeavor to recognize God is
cause it satisfies ones immediate . . . ., % . , ..
, j j . , , , not given in the first place; it
needs and desires, and the other ° . . , J . \. . ' f
,, . ., . f . . is to be created in the
that is the incarnation of a spin- .. ., ,
t rr , r i . community through
tual effort, of a struggle not to ,. . . , ,
break the relationship with the dispositions and acts that
novice director or the commitment emhod y an attttude °f
made to God (C 284). Obedience res P ect and service '
can be of great help for persons ^_^^^^^_«__^^^_^_
who are "stuck" or not fully en-
gaged in the incarnational dynamic of the first stage of Jesuit forma-
tion, similar to what happens in the Spiritual Exercises when the
director challenges a retreatant with the authority implied in his
function. In this perspective, an act of obedience is comparable to
the small "victory" of a retreatant who is able to persist in prayer in
The obedience of professed Jesuits is part of a different dynamic (C 547-52).
24 <0> JAnos Lukacs, S.J.
a period of desolation, choosing to value the ongoing relationship
with God and with the director over the option of acting upon his
or her immediate needs and desires.
Both the Spiritual Exercises and the Constitutions offer much to
think about in the first phase of progressing toward God, so much
so that attention can be scattered. A sixth similarity between the two
texts is that both place strong emphasis on the responsibility of
individuals to maintain a sense of unity and focus. In both cases, the
intentionality of the person who is willing to make progress is called
for. The Spiritual Exercises proposes a recurring preparatory prayer:
"[A]sk God our Lord for the grace that all my intentions, actions,
and operations may be ordered purely to the service and praise of
the Divine Majesty" (46 [p. 40]). In the Constitutions, the term "right
intention" expresses a similar emphasis with a variation that allows
space for things other than God to be in the immediate focus of
attention: "All should make diligent efforts to keep their intention
right, not only in regard to their state of life but also in all particular
things" (ConsCN C 288 vl ). In both cases, regularly refocusing the
intention, making an effort "fully to be there," is indispensable for
making progress.
In the Constitutions, where concrete "virtuous" acts are seen as
integral parts of a progression toward God (who is to be sought "in
all things" (C 288 v3 ), the context of the incarnational dynamic re-
moves the suspicion of an unhealthy voluntarism. What is at stake
when relating to others is that "by consideration of one another they
may thus grow in devotion and praise God our Lord, whom each
one should endeavor to recognize in his neighbor as in His image"
(C 250 v5 ). The point where one should endeavor to recognize God is
not given in the first place; it is to be created in the community
through dispositions and acts that embody an attitude of respect and
service. In the novitiate, virtuous acts are seen both as the fruit of a
progression toward God and as a means of promoting it.
A final parallel between the two Ignatian texts is that in both
cases, Ignatius gives a host of seemingly minor details about how a
dynamic movement toward God can be better fostered. For example,
in the Constitutions, a general sense of union is presented as of
importance: "[U]nion and agreement among them all ought to be
sought most earnestly, and the opposite ought not to be permitted"
(C 273 v5 ). Divisions are to be healed, so that the novitiate is a place
where trust can develop. In some cases, individuals have to be
The Incarnational Dynamic of the Constitutions «0> 25
moved to another community if sensitivities make peaceful living
together impossible (C 245). A special warning applies to two areas:
discussions of a theological nature on the one hand, and disputes
about everyday practical issues on the other; in the particular con-
text of the novitiate, Ignatius seems to assume, such discussions can
become a pretext for hidden or overt hostility. Fruitless controversies
in these areas should be avoided (C 273).
To summarize: in the powerful interpersonal milieu of the
novitiate, a number of Ignatian means work in synergy to help
individuals toward the developmental goal, namely, to acquire a
capacity to embed oneself in a concrete web of mutual relationships.
Individuals are expected and
helped to maintain a high quality ^^^^_^_^^^_^^^^^^^^
of relationships through preserv-
ing a reconciled heart and an atti- Accordingly, the second phase
tude of respect and service toward of Jesuit formation seems to
others. To the extent that there is aim at fostering a
developed a corresponding habit- transformation of the person
ual manner of behaving and in a way that this autonomy
speaking, even of spontaneously is actualized in concrete
perceiving particular interpersonal life situations.
situations, less and less conscious
effort is needed to live in a recon-
ciled way in one's community: the tension felt in the novitiate at the
outset can ease. Growing awareness of self and attention to others
foster empathy; this is how sufficient affective maturity and adequate
emotional intelligence can be attained in the protected environment
of the novitiate, where sufficient attention can be paid to these
issues.
After the novitiate, individuals can be admitted to the next
stage of Jesuit life on the condition that "proper abnegation of
themselves is seen to be present" (C 307 v3 ). In the perspective of the
incarnational dynamic, "proper abnegation of themselves" can be
recognized as a relatively well-defined degree of inner freedom that
is manifested in the ability to live in a close community and to invest
oneself fully in its common activities. Sufficient inner freedom at this
stage enables the person to deal habitually with impulses that hinder
a desire to live according to Gospel norms in a demanding interper-
sonal milieu. To the analogy of the Spiritual Exercises, where it is
useless to begin the Second Week unless there are clear signs that
26 ^ JAnos Lukacs, S.J.
the First Week has been accomplished, Ignatius considers that the
"edifice of learning" which is to be put up during the next stage of
Jesuit life will not hold unless this "foundation" has been laid (C 307).
Part IV of the Constitutions: Scholastic Life
The first paragraph of Part IV explains that the next phase of
Jesuit formation is also to be seen in the context of "helping [Jesuits
in formation] to attain the ultimate end for which they were created"
(C 307 v2 ). In addition to becoming a virtuous person, a goal which
was predominantly aimed at in the novitiate, "learning and a meth-
od of expounding it are also necessary." This developmental goal
intertwines an intellectual and an incarnational aspect, both of which
are repeated in the same paragraph in slightly different terms: "[I]t
will be necessary to provide for the edifice of learning, and of skill in
employing it." Studies are to be done in a way that what has been
appropriated becomes a resource, both in giving account of it ver-
bally and as a principle of action in a variety of situations. In devel-
opmental terms, the goal is to become a person who can talk and
act, shape his relationships according to insights and convictions
acquired during the time of studies.
The demanded transformation, "to provide for the edifice of
learning, and of skill in employing it so as to help make God our
Creator and Lord better known and served (C 307 v4 ), evokes the grace
of the Second Week of the Spiritual Exercises which grants "an
interior knowledge of the Lord . . . that I may love him more intensely
and follow him more closely" (104 [p. 56]). In the Exercises, this grace of
the Second Week transforms radically the way reality is perceived.
Not unlike what was the case in the First Week, which also changed
the retreatant's perception of reality through introducing or increas-
ing an awareness of the divided heart, aspects of reality that could
not be seen before begin to appear. In the Second Week, light is
received from contemplations on Jesus' life, and part of each exercise
is "to reflect upon myself to draw some profit" (114 v3 [p. 59]). The
words and actions of Jesus, his relationships and his manner of
being in the world are in some ways projected to the retreatant's
perception of reality, correlating known elements in new ways,
inspiring associations and leading to a new sense of meaningfulness
even in familiar situations. This new way of seeing reality is the
source of a new freedom to act, and gives rise to a new sense of
The Incarnational Dynamic of the Constitutions ^ 27
autonomy: Jesus' way of behaving inspires acts that would have
been impossible in the past. 27 With an inner sense of security, a
person becomes able to see what a "right/ 7 act is. This autonomy is
very different from the kind of self-government that had to be left
behind during the First Week ("[f]or let each one think that he will
benefit himself in all spiritual things in proportion as he goes out of
his self-love, will and interest" [189 v10 (p. 80)]). The autonomy that is
the fruit of the Second Week is a grace-filled one, with a sense of
responsibility and freedom. Accordingly, the second phase of Jesuit
formation seems to aim at fostering a transformation of the person in
a way that this autonomy is actualized in concrete life situations.
To facilitate progress through this phase, Part IV of the Consti-
tutions demands several elements to work in synergy. First of all, a
suitable environment has to be set
up where learning can take place.
Most chapters of Part IV, there- Both the Exercises and the
fore, describe how colleges are to Constitutions demand a
be organized and under what gen- constant interplay between
eral conditions students can begin receiving the Word of God or
their studies. The following areas new insights about God and
are addressed: issues related to the world on the one hand,
benefactors, material questions, lay an d reframing them within a
students, subjects to be studied, personal context of meaning
conditions for accepting universi- on ^ke other.
ties, setting up a program of stud-
ies, the complex task of the rector, "^^^^-^^^~— ^^^~^^~
and similar concerns. For the pur-
pose of my argument, chapter 6 is of special interest: "Means for
Their Learning Well the Aforementioned Subjects." For reasons of
simplicity, this chapter is going to be our primary reference in Part IV.
In the new milieu of a college, a scholastic who has just left
the novitiate finds himself exposed to intellectual challenges. The
academic environment places a host of demands on his shoulders,
generating a new field of tension. One of the principal tasks of the
rector is to maintain an intensive exposure to this new milieu and to
keep the resulting tension within reasonable limits: "Just as it is
necessary to hold in those who run too rapidly, so is it proper to
spur on, push, and encourage those who need it. For this purpose
27
Spohn, Go And Do Likewise, 40.
28 <fc JAnos Lukacs, S.J.
the rector ought to keep informed" (ConsCN C 386 vvl ~ 2 ; cf. 374). A
way of maintaining an intensive atmosphere of intellectual work is
by setting a limit to interpersonal relationships. Even conversations
that have a pastoral character are considered as likely "impediments
which distract from study" and "should be removed" (C 362 v l ). As in
the novitiate, the environment in which a scholastic lives is denned,
first of all, by a number of separations. These apply to human
relationships, but also to the necessary separation from the world of
ideas for the time of rest, spiritual activities, and community life.
Once the proper formational environment is set up, a series of
exercises foster movement toward the goal of this phase, an autono-
mous and committed way of perceiving reality and responding to it.
Among the usual exercises of studying (using libraries, memorizing
what was said in lectures, taking notes (C 372, 375 f.), disputations are
explained more in detail: they seem to have a distinguished role in
advancing the incarnational dynamic. Scholastics are asked to en-
gage in them whenever possible, "because of the utility there is in
the practice of disputation" (C 378 vl ). This activity, which was con-
sidered useless in the novitiate, is of great importance here "espe-
cially . . . for those who are study-
_^^_^^^__^^^_^^_ ing arts and . . . theology" (C
_. t . . 378 vl ). The exigency of expressing
Right intention seems to re g U larly whatever has been
imply both being aware of a , eamed in the context of disputa .
deep desire to advance tions is similar t0 what happens in
toward God and the Second Week of the Spiritual
expressing it. Exercises where insights gained
^ ^^^_^^^_ from contemplations on Jesus' life
are to be brought into the "collo-
quy," where the retreatant enters a dialogue with the Lord "as one
friend speaks to another" (SpEx 54 vl [pp. 12f.]). Both the Exercises
and the Constitutions demand a constant interplay between receiving
the Word of God or new insights about God and the world on the
one hand, and reframing them within a personal context of meaning
on the other. A particular feature of disputations is that they can —
and should — be interesting, that is, both intellectually and affectively
involving, rich in spiritual motions, which is indicative of an inten-
sive activity of searching for meaningfulness. In contrast to a casual
conversation about theological theories, in a disputation a person is
challenged to identify with ideas and values implied in these theo-
The Incarnational Dynamic of the Constitutions ^ 29
ries. This is how the individual is to find his particular way of "lov-
ing wisdom" (doing philosophy) and of "talking about God" (doing
theology), which is in harmony with his specific charisms and with
the historical development of his personality.
Three kinds of disputations are to be held (C 378-80]. First,
scholastics should participate in the disputations — both at special
events of greater importance and in ordinary "circles" of discus-
sion — organized by the schools, "even though these schools are not
those of the Society itself' (C 378 vl ). Second, Jesuit communities are
to organize regular disputes, based on a talk prepared in advance by
a scholastic (C 378). Third, somewhat more spontaneously, Jesuit
communities are to reserve "an hour . . . each day" (C 379 al ) to
dispute "difficult matters" in the
presence of a mature Jesuit who ■— — — -— — — — ^^^^^—
can speak with authority about Studying is not simply useful
the given question. Why does Ig- because of what is factually
natius insist that there be three w . in the dynamic of the
types of disputations? It seems Constitutions, the very
that the context in which an indi- .... £ . , . ,
. , , „ , f . „ . , . activity of studying plays an
vidual defends a scholarly as- J . . J ° , , .
. n ,, ,i • • instrumental role in
sumption influences the way this is , , ~ ,
j r T , t r, advancing toward God.
done. In a school setting, the em- d
phasis is on intellectual integrity; ._____________-_---
in a more casual discussion in the
Jesuit community, the focus can be shifted more explicitly towards
what is at the heart of an autonomous and dedicated reasoning, the
personal commitment to Christ, and its implications in existentially
significant situations. Disputations organized in the community with
a more official character can create opportunities to integrate two
previous aspects of communication, namely, personal dedication and
intellectual integrity, which may appear disparate in the beginning.
Ignatius seems to consider all three kinds of disputations as indis-
pensable means of support for scholastics making progress along
their way to God. This is how the initial commitment to Christ, once
expressed in spiritual movements, feelings, desires, and insights, is to
become incarnated in a variety of situations, both by what is said
and what is done by the person who is making progress in the
incarnational dynamic of Jesuit formation.
In the midst of a multitude of philosophical and theological
concepts and theories, a precondition of progress is that "scholastics
30 <0* Janos LukAcs, SJ.
should strive first of all to keep their souls pure and their intention in
studying right" (C 360 vl ). This demand is once again evocative of the
"usual" preparatory prayer (SpEx 101 [p. 56]) in the Second Week
and throughout the Spiritual Exercises: "[A]sk God our Lord for the
grace that all my intentions, actions, and operations may be ordered
purely to the service and praise of the Divine Majesty" (46 [p. 40]).
The Constitutions retain a focus of attention on the service of God
and enrich it by the incarnational aspect of helping human beings:
"seeking in their studies nothing except the glory of God and the
good of souls" (C 360 v2 ). Right intention seems to imply both being
aware of a deep desire to advance toward God and expressing it.
Much as is the case in the Exercises, there is no straightforward
progressing toward God without intending to do so.
Studies, according to the Constitutions, are not a simple acquisi-
tion of pieces of information, just as contemplating Jesus' life in the
Second Week is not simply an affair of collecting new data. Both
require individual effort — throughout a series of exercises — but
whether this brings fruit is ultimately a matter of grace: "[T]hey
should frequently beg in prayer for grace to make progress in
learning" (C 360 v3 ). This means that movements of consolation and
desolation can be significant; beyond the intellectual aspect, affectivi-
ty is also of interest. To study with hostile feelings is to refuse to be
transformed by what is being learned. Right intention means study-
ing with a reconciled heart, open to identifying with the values
encountered. If intellectual work is done with a graced motivation,
progress is made in the unfolding incarnational dynamic: "[E]ven if
they never have occasion to employ the matter studied, their very
toil of study, duly undertaken because of charity and obedience, is
itself a very meritorious work in the sight of the Divine and Su-
preme Majesty" (C 361 v2 ). Just as in the Spiritual Exercises, where the
"success" of a prayer time is not measured by the number of work-
able insights that one can harvest in it, so studying is not simply
useful because of what is factually gained: in the dynamic of the
Constitutions, the very activity of studying plays an instrumental role
in advancing toward God. 28
28
Simone Weil develops this idea beautifully: "Reflections on the Right Use of
School Studies with a View to the Love of God," in Waiting for God, trans.
The Incarnational Dynamic of the Constitutions -0- 32
Chapter 8 of Part IV, 'The Instruction of the Scholastics in the
Means of Helping Their Neighbor/ turns toward an explicitly
incarnational aspect by describing the pastoral training of scholastics,
who are to become acquainted with "the spiritual arms that they
must employ in aiding their fellowmen" (C 400 v2 ). 29 Much as in the
novitiate, where "virtues" are indispensable for incarnating spiritual
realities in concrete situations, the careful acquisition of pastoral
skills is seen fully "[i]n view of the objective which the Society seeks
in its studies" (C 400 v2 ). These preparations foster progress along the
Ignatian pathway to God by making a person ready to cooperate
more fully with grace: "Although all this can be taught only by the
unction of the Holy Spirit and by the prudence which God our Lord
communicates to those who trust in his Divine Majesty, nevertheless
the way can at least be opened by some suggestions which help and
prepare for the effect that is to be produced by divine grace" (C
414 vv - 3-4 ),
Paradoxically, although toward the end of their studies
scholastics are becoming capable of a close cooperation with the
grace of God, they might feel relatively little indication of this. In a
way that is familiar from the Spiritual Exercises, progression toward
God is not continuously accompanied by an affective confirmation.
Studies can become a "duty in our
Lord" (C 377) to be fulfilled, and
one can come close to burnout. r>~~ MM „z^ „„a ~~z~ —
_. . , Compassion ana pain are
The activity of studying is sus- £ ., • j- *• *# + +r
, J . . J b . further indications that the
tamed to an increasing extent by , . , .
c L i //mil i u i f retreatant is coming closer to
faith: [TJhey should have a firm . . ,. A ° „ .
I . • . t _, perceiving reality as it really is.
resolution to be genuine and ear- r d J J
nest students, persuading themselves ______^__
that while they are in the colleges
they cannot do anything more pleasing to God our Lord than to
study with the intention mentioned above (C 361 vl ). In times of no
affective confirmation, obedience can top off the ailing sources of
motivation: studying is "duly undertaken because of charity and
obedience" (C 361 v2 ). In these times, scholastics are to be held firmly
Emma Craufurd (New York: Harper and Row, 1951), 105-16.
29
Regency, which is a weighty element of formation today, is mentioned in
chap. 9 as the possibility "to lecture [philosophy] before [a scholastic] studies
theology" (C 417 v2 ).
32 ^ JAnos Lukacs, SJ.
and supported gently, rather like a retreatant going through a
period of dryness. A precondition for helping, both in the Spiritual
Exercises and in Jesuit formation, is that one has to be familiar with
the entire developmental dynamic in order to be able to provide
competent support. Only in this larger perspective can a time of
crisis appear as a necessary passage towards the place where God is
waiting to meet the person more intimately than ever before.
To summarize: the developmental goal of the second phase of
Jesuit formation is a transformation of the person so that one be-
comes able to incarnate Gospel values in a particular historical and
cultural context. Part IV of the Constitutions describes a number of
Ignatian means that work in concert to help individuals toward this
goal. The result is a growing freedom that enables individuals to
behave with confidence even beyond a protected group of Jesuit
peers, because a new sense of autonomy offers an inner principle of
action in yet unfamiliar conditions and interpersonal situations. To
make progress according to the demands of this phase implies
choices that can be expected to be difficult; yet a person toward the
end of this phase of the developmental dynamic is likely to have
developed a deeply satisfying sense of living a life that is genuinely
valuable.
Part V of the Constitutions: Tertianship
The developmental goal of this "last probation" is once again
to make "progress" toward God, by means of arriving at "greater
humility, abnegation . . . and also greater knowledge and love of
God our Lord" (C 516 v5 ). This goal is complemented by an unusually
strong emphasis on an apostolic, incarnational aspect: "that when
they themselves have made progress they can better help others to
progress for the glory of God our Lord" (C 516 v6 ). Apart from evok-
ing the notions of humility and abnegation that are familiar from the
novitiate, the Constitutions say astonishingly little about this phase of
Jesuit formation. In the light of the Third Week of the Spiritual
Exercises, however, it can be elucidated to some degree.
Proportionally, the Third Week also occupies relatively little
space in the book of the Exercises. Its basic dynamic is a progressive
opening up to feelings of "sorrow . . . regret . . . confusion" (SpEx
193 [p. 189]) and "sorrow ... a broken spirit . . . and interior suffer-
ing" (203 [p. 83]). This week transforms once again the retreatant's
The Incarnational Dynamic of the Constitutions ^ 33
ability to perceive reality by proposing episodes to be contemplated
that do not make sense in the same way as those do in the Second
Week. The scene of Jesus healing a blind person who cries out for
help makes eminent sense, and it is a deep source of revelation of
how God wants to be in relationship with us. The scene of a crown
of thorns being put on the head of Jesus, who is clothed in purple in
the midst of a group of soldiers, is not meaningful in the same way.
There is no intelligible answer to the "why" question; what is con-
templated does not directly make sense. God is not manifested
straightforwardly in the scenes of the Passion: "[T]he divinity hides
itself" (196 [p. 82]). Theological arguments about redemption cannot
undo this hiding of the divinity; all they can do is confirm that these
scenes are worth being contemplated at great length and detail, and
fruit can be expected from familiarizing oneself with the workings of
suffering. Whoever desires to be with Christ in this situation has to
go beyond the "why" question. When "confusion" (193 [p. 81]) sets
in, this is a good sign that a step has been made. Compassion and
pain are further indications that the retreatant is coming closer to
perceiving reality as it really is. As the person is becoming ac-
quainted with the pain inherent in his or her situation, a new
freedom to behave differently is being brought forth, a freedom to
"stay with" painful situations that are frightening at first sight be-
cause they do not make sense, but where one knows God to be
present. Beyond the "why" question and beyond the pain, beyond
the periodic changes of consolation and desolation, these contempla-
tions lead to a radically new way of perceiving reality through a
quiet, peaceful, sustained, loving awareness in an unfulfilled desire
for God, which we know to be the point of stillness where the
spiritual dynamic of the Third Week intends to lead.
Tertianship, the "school of the heart" (ConsCN 516 v4 ), places
Jesuits in a Third Week milieu by sending them among the poor,
into hospitals, or other situations of despair. The place has to be
such that Jesuits feel frustrated; more exactly, progression toward
God can be made on the condition that this probation can "engen-
der in them greater humility, abnegation of all sensual love and will
and judgment of their own" (C 516 v5 ). In this new situation of
tension, individuals spend their time "exercising themselves in
spiritual and corporal pursuits" (C 516), among people in miserable
conditions to ease their physical, mental, or spiritual suffering. For
the desired dynamic to unfold, sufficient time, about a "year" (C
34 <0> Janos LukAcs, SJ.
514 v2 ), is to be spent in this environment ("[h]owever, just as this
period may be prolonged, so too ... it may be shortened in some
cases and for important reasons. But this power should be used
rarely" [C 515]).
"Humility" (C 516 v5 ) sets in with the progressive recognition
that one is unable to help the way one would like to. To endure the
dumbness of the heart under the gaze of a mother holding her dead
baby is a moment of profound humiliation, because after many years
of theological studies and in some cases professional training, after
having read dozens of books, one is still unable to help, let alone to
respond to the compelling question: "Why is this happening? How
can God let this happen?" Feeling
^ _^^^^_^^^^_ like running away can be com-
pounded with feelings of anger
The fruit of tertianship is a anc j disappointment or uselessness
deep conviction that God is m a general sense of confusion.
to be found beyond the ideas ., , , .
T J . .. ,, . Yet for a person who per-
and expectations that one ,. ^ i,
, r , t . , _ sists in seeking God s presence,
may have of this world, even such ^^ moments are close to
if one's desire to serve is becoming moments of grace. Be-
fatally frustrated. yond the humiliation a new, yet
^_^^^^^^_^^^^^^^__ unfamiliar option can open up,
accessible through spiritual effort
and the grace of God: a peaceful stillness can set in, a strength to
choose to stay in the place of pain, to endure the deadly silence of
the heart, in the midst of the meaninglessness, beyond the tempta-
tion to revolt and the temptation to give up, with no other support
than faith in the living God and an unfulfilled desire for God's
presence. Little by little there can emerge an unusual sense of union
with the person whose presence had caused so much frustration to
the learned Jesuit so eager to help, exposing him to the temptation
of considering himself a failure. It becomes clear that no theological
considerations and no actions are needed, at least nothing beyond
small gestures of support and a few words of prayer that arise from
the depth of the heart. Yet this "not doing anything" is unmistakably
different from a selfish, careless, disappointed, or fearful immobility.
It is the passivity of the servant who is waiting even at the second or
third watch of the night, akin to what happens in times of contem-
plative prayer during the Spiritual Exercises. After such timeless
moments, one might be surprised to hear the other person say,
The Incarnational Dynamic of the Constitutions -& 35
'Thank you," as if her problem had been solved, as if one's presence
really mattered, or as if part of her burden was taken away. Looking
back to what happened, the awareness can emerge that God's
presence was experienced in the very place where it had been so
unimaginable to find God. God was witnessed, not simply as a
spiritual desire, feeling, or thought, but as a reality offering peace
and healing in an interpersonal situation that was not long ago so
hopelessly overshadowed by death.
As a result of a series of similar — yet amazingly varied —
experiences, one can "make progress" (C 516 v6 ) along the incarna-
tional dynamic of the Third Week. In retrospect, one can understand
how each choice to persist in a situation of misery entails a moment
of giving up insisting on usual ways of thinking and helping others,
like efforts to comfort the person, praying that God would undo the
situation, or theologizing in an attempt to justify God. The price for
the Third Week dynamic to set in was to say no to all this, or in the
words of the Constitutions, the "abnegation of all sensual love and
will and judgment of their own" (C 516 v5 ). After a number of such
experiences, one can begin to look at oneself from a new perspec-
tive: my desperate efforts to do something were actually the greatest
obstacle for God's presence to be manifested! This is a revolutionary
discovery, and to the extent that one is helped to realize how this is
a regular pattern in a variety of life situations, 30 the yearlong stay
among the poor will be seen as a highly meaningful probation, in
agreement with the modest formulation of the Constitutions: "[I]t will
be helpful" (C 516 v4 ). With a sense of gratitude, the person will
acknowledge that he had been led, in ways that were radically new,
to "greater knowledge and love of God our Lord" (C 516 v5 ). This is
how the person gets ready to enter the fourth and final phase of the
incarnational dynamic of the Constitutions.
To summarize, tertianship brings about a familiarity with the
limits of one's capacity to love; it exposes the limitations of one's
power to change the world for the better; and it brings about a
profound awareness of the boundaries of one's thinking about God,
the world, and oneself. The fruit of tertianship is a deep conviction
30
Supervision or spiritual direction that is open to the contemplative
dimension is of immense help in recognizing subtle ways of not being receptive to
grace. See W. A. Barry and W. J. Connolly, The Practice of Spiritual Direction (San
Francisco: HarperCollins, 1982).
36 <$- JAnos Lukacs, S.J.
that God is to be found beyond the ideas and expectations that one
may have of this world, even if one's desire to serve is fatally frus-
trated. Compassionate, patient, and loving attentiveness becomes a
familiar way of seeking God in situations of distress and apparent
meaninglessness, resulting in a growing awareness of how a vain
effort of action or reflection can hinder the manifestation of God's
presence. The result is a previously unknown sense of freedom,
identity, and union with human beings and with God.
Part VI of the Constitutions: After Final Vows
Correlations between the first three stages of Jesuit life and the
first three weeks of the Spiritual Exercises hint that the fourth stage of
both dynamics could also be compared to each other. Yet is it not
too daring, is it not just an illusion to look for a Fourth Week dy-
namic in "ordinary" Jesuit life after the years of formation? How
does one imagine the incarnational, "everyday" equivalent of the
joyous immediacy of contemplating "how God labors and works for
me in all things" (SpEx 236 vl ) at the culmination of an intensive
thirty-day spiritual experience? At this point one is not compelled to
go ahead by some new theory on the Constitutions, but to continue
the quest to rediscover the original charism of the Society: "[A] direct
and ongoing sense of God's presence, practically the same thing as
consolation, . . . was what Jesuits hoped for themselves and tried to
excite in others." 31 Jeronimo Nadal explains that a favorite saying of
Ignatius, "finding God in all things," is to be understood as the
manifestation of a Fourth Week dynamic in daily life: "To him was
given an order of prayer by which he, a contemplative even while
active, was led to a sense of God's presence and spiritual reality in
all objects, in all activities, in all conversations. He used to clarify it
this way: God is to be found in all things." 32
Nadal describes here a radically new way of perceiving reality
which evokes the Contemplation on the Love of God in the Spiritual
Exercises (230 vl [p. 94]), where God is discovered in all things, in
31 O'Malley, First Jesuits, 371.
32
Quoted in William Bangert, Jerome Nadal, S.J., 1507-1580: Tracking the First
Generation of Jesuits (Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1992), 214.
The Incarnational Dynamic of the Constitutions ^ 37
human beings and in every creature. He then continues by explain-
ing that this charism of Ignatius is that of the whole of the Society of
Jesus.
Much to the intense wonder and consolation of us all, we have seen
this interior light-giving grace break in a kind of radiance that envel-
oped his face and manifested itself in the shining sureness of what
he did in Christ. We have an inkling that something of that grace — I
do not know exactly what — has been turned toward us. What there-
fore we understand to be a privilege given to Ignatius, we believe
has been granted to the entire Society. We feel sure that prayer and
contemplation of this mode have been given in the Society for all of
us. We affirm that this prayer is tied to our vocation. (214)
Does Nadal speak about "prayer and contemplation" or about
everyday life? At this point in the discussion the two are hard to
distinguish. The privilege to find God in all things in everyday life is
evocative of the Fourth Week of the Spiritual Exercises with its
contemplations on meeting the risen Lord in a variety of situations.
In some cases the Lord was sought and in others he was not; he was
met by people praying or work-
ing, being at home or on the way, ^_^^^^^_^^^^^^^^_
and so forth. The grace to be . ' rim . ,
prayed for is "to ask for what I A new form of hfe becomes
want. ... to rejoice intensely be- possible as the Fourth Week
cause of the great glory and joy of dynamic is progressively
Christ our Lord" (SpEx 221 [p. 91]). embodied in a variety of
The focus of these contemplations everyday-life situations; this
is the consolation brought by is how one becomes fully
Christ (224 [p. 92]) or the way the receptive to the grace of being
Divinity appears (223 [p. 93]). The contemplative even while
contemplations of the Fourth active, a privilege that
Week open the retreatant to a according to Nadal "has been
new way of perceiving reality: the granted to the entire Society."
world is revealed to be a sacred
place where Christ can manifest
himself on unexpected occasions and where the presence of God can
be sought with confidence. Accordingly, in the Contemplation on
the Love of God (230-237 [pp. 94 f.]), after a long series of medita-
tions and contemplations with strictly focused spiritual topics, the
horizon opens up to everyday activities and to the entire created
world. At the end of the thirty days spent in a series of spiritual
38 <$> Janos LukAcs, S.J.
exercises, one can return home with a new way of perceiving reality
and with a new freedom to act in response to God's action in the
world.
In a similar manner, after an arduous developmental trajectory
where God might have often appeared distant and even excessively
harsh in the midst of the demands of successive milieus of forma-
tion, Part VI of the Constitutions envisions a convergence between
"everyday" and "spiritual" life. Jesuit life opens up to an intimacy
with God that was previously only accessible in privileged moments
of prayer; at this stage "it is presupposed that [Jesuits] will be men
who are spiritual and sufficiently advanced that they will run in the
path of Christ our Lord" (C 582 v3 ). A new form of life becomes
possible as the Fourth Week dynamic is progressively embodied in a
variety of everyday-life situations; this is how one becomes fully
receptive to the grace of being contemplative even while active, a
privilege that according to Nadal "has been granted to the entire
Society."
The goal of this phase of Jesuit life is to bring fruit: "to apply
themselves more fruitfully according to our Institute in the service of
God and the aid of their neighbors" (C 547 v3 ). At this point, the
dynamic of the Constitutions becomes self-sustaining, somewhat like
what tends to happen toward the end of the thirty-day Exercises.
There is no formational environment, no formator to facilitate the
process, and there is no — more or less artificially maintained — field
of tension. Formed Jesuits enjoy great freedom and autonomy,
coupled with a new responsibility: "[T]hey need to observe certain
things" (C 547 v3 ).
Among the things to be observed, "the most important . . . are
reduced to the vows" (C 547 v4 ). For reasons of simplicity, we are
going to summarize this phase of Jesuit life by focusing on the vows.
The Vows
What is the role of the vows in fostering the incarnational
dynamic of the Constitutions! The Fourth Week dynamic is character-
ized by a high degree of inner freedom that allows reality to be
perceived in its full richness, enabling the individual to see with
relative ease how God's presence transcends the created world. The
vows address major areas where this inner freedom can be compro-
mised and a narrowness of vision can set in. First of all, the vow of
The Incarnational Dynamic of the Constitutions <$- 39
poverty concerns ways of relating to impersonal objects. The Spiritual
Exercises speaks about this issue in the context of a war metaphor. In
the meditation on the Two Standards, the question of "riches" is the
"first step" in a battle where the Lord recommends spiritual and
actual poverty, while the tactic of Lucifer is to "set up snares and
chains" (SpEx 142 vl , 146 v5 ). The Constitutions also rely on a war
metaphor to describe this area: "The enemy of the human race
generally tries to weaken this defense and rampart which God our
Lord inspired religious institutes to raise against him and the other
adversaries of their perfection" (ConsCN C 553 v3 ). Images of combat
seem to reflect the fact that freedom in this area can be gained at the
price of more or less painful detachments, whether from objects of
comfort or from a self-forgetful immersion in the administration of
material goods. Due to the pain inherent in every act of detachment,
poverty in the initial stages of progressing toward God could often
be seen as a nuisance. From the perspective of the spiritual freedom
proper to the Fourth Week, however, it becomes a supportive ally in
defending the precious gift of spiritual freedom: "Poverty, as the
strong wall of the religious institute, should be loved and preserved
in its integrity as far as this is possible with God's grace" (C 553 v2 ).
The second area where inner freedom can be compromised is
that of interpersonal relationships. In the meditation on the Two
Standards, this is the second "step," where diametrically opposed
choices are being offered, "honor"
by Lucifer and "reproaches or con- ^__^^^^^^_^^^^^^^__
tempt" by Christ (SpEx 142 v2 ,
146 v5 ). When talking about the In contrast, a person who has
vows, the Constitutions address the made Progress in the Fourth
area of interpersonal relationships Week incarnational dynamic
by making a succinct mention of begins to understand how the
the vow of chastity. The common observance of the vows
feature is that the spiritual free- dynamically leads back to
dom proper to the Fourth Week seeking the immediacy of the
dynamic can be diminished and presence of God.
the corresponding richness of per-
ceiving reality can be narrowed
down if a self-forgetful immersion in interpersonal relationships
entails the development of unordered attachments. Ignatius seems to
presuppose that this is a very common human experience: "What
40 <0> JANOS LUKACS, S.J.
pertains to the vow of chastity requires no interpretation, since it is
evident how perfectly it should be preserved" (ConsCN C 547 v5 ).
The third area where spiritual freedom can be endangered
involves a person's relationships with ideas and ideals. In the medi-
tation on the Two Standards, choices are to be made between
// pride ,/ and "humility/ 7 This is the third, last, and decisive step in
advancing toward God. Pride implies a sense of power, while humil-
ity implies a sense of gratitude. Pride, or excessive self-esteem, is the
unconscious identification with an attractive ideal, in contrast to
humility, which implies a realistic awareness of self. "If we are
relatively free from mistaking image for reality in other areas, we at
least idolize our self-images." 33 The Constitutions addresses the issue
of relating to ideas and ideals by talking about obedience as some-
thing that applies not simply to what is being done ("the execution")
but also to the way one is motivated and one thinks ("the willing,
and the understanding" [547 v10 ]). In times when a self-forgetful
immersion in ideas and ideals might risk a serious narrowness of
vision, Ignatius asks us to "[apply] all our energies with very special
care to the virtue of obedience" and thus to go beyond this limita-
tion of the perspective: "They should keep in view God our Creator
and Lord, for whom such obedience is practiced" (547 vv8_7 ).
In the Fourth Week perspective, the vows are seen as means
of support for maintaining an ongoing relationship with God rather
than as reminders of sore privations. Since a previously unknown
richness of perceiving reality makes it possible to "understand" (SpEx
235 v2 [p. 95]) in a new way, Part VI can offer a fresh look at the
vows, which "may be further explained and commended" (ConsCN C
547 v4 ) to professed Jesuits. At earlier phases of the pathway to God,
the vows were something to accept in faith, supported by compan-
ions who were also accepting them, and by a limited understanding
which was always possible. They were part of life but they remained
on the horizon, beyond reach, since they contributed to imposing
the fields of tension that kept a Jesuit working at the limits of his
capabilities in a given formational environment. One might even
have been tempted to see them as perhaps necessary but quite
"unnatural" inventions rather than gifts of God. In contrast, a person
who has made progress in the Fourth Week incarnational dynamic
33
Gerald G. May, Will and Spirit: A Contemplative Psychology (San Francisco:
Harper and Row, 1982), 111.
The Incarnational Dynamic of the Constitutions -& 41
begins to understand how the observance of the vows dynamically
leads back to seeking the immediacy of the presence of God. For
someone who is to direct himself along the Ignatian "pathway to
God" in a world where there is little social support for religious life,
this understanding is vital. However, "understanding" is not meant
in a rationalistic sense, as it does not supplement faith. Once again
there is an analogy to giving the Spiritual Exercises, where we can
lead retreatants with a great sense of security because our under-
standing of what happens is based upon our own experience, on the
authority of the Ignatian text, on the Gospels, and on our trust in
the immeasurable generosity of the Lord. Whenever such wisdom
yields fruit, we perceive it as an unexpectedly fresh gifts of God,
whether directing others or ourselves.
To summarize: after final incorporation into the Society, the
goal is to become more fruitful in serving God and helping human
beings. This can be done with a degree of inner freedom that makes
an intimate sense of God's presence relatively easily accessible in any
life situation. Precondition for such a life is the "observance" of the
vows, which at this stage is to be done both in the sense of their
being obeyed and in the sense of their being meditated upon. Over
time, less and less conscious reflection on self will be needed. A
growing ease in putting the vows at the service of an intimate and
committed relationship with God leads to increasing freedom and to
an ever-greater openness to reality and to God, whose presence
shines through "all things" more and more compellingly.
IV. Possible Methods for Continuing
the Exploration
The preliminary presupposition of this essay was that the
Ignatian "pathway to God" as laid out in the Constitutions can
be conceived as a dynamic psycho-spiritual development
analogous to the familiar dynamic of the Spiritual Exercises. Based on
this insight, we have sketched out an initial understanding of the
gradual development of Jesuit life in growing freedom in the Spirit.
Although a sweeping initial portrayal of the Ignatian "incarnational
dynamic" probably brings up more questions than answers, we have
drawn up some of the principal traits of the process of growth that,
according to the Constitutions, characterizes Jesuit life.
42 <$> Janos LukAcs, S.J.
In addition to having found a number of instances where
elements of the Spiritual Exercises "shine through" the Constitutions'
depiction of Jesuit life from the novitiate through scholastic years to
tertianship and beyond, we have also observed many signs of a
stronger linkage between the two texts. Consequently, we can
advance the hypothesis that the Ignatian pathway to God is cap-
tured in the Constitutions as a dynamic of incarnation that follows
closely the Four Week structure of the Spiritual Exercises. The three
major demanding transformations that a Jesuit goes through during
the years of formation are familiar from the Exercises. The fruit of
each stage of formation is a whole set of competencies that enable
the individual to deal with the challenges of the given formational
environment. These competencies stem from the graces of the
Spiritual Exercises, and can be seen as their incarnation in a person's
habitual ways of perceiving reality and responding to the typical
challenges of the milieu where the particular transformation takes
place.
The insight that there is an intrinsic correlation between
spiritual development in the Exercises and "incarnational" develop-
ment in the Constitutions is in need of further confirmation. As
possible focuses for a continuing discussion, I am quickly evoking
three promising ways of exploring
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ in a more systematic manner the
Ignatian "pathway to God."
Seeing the Constitutions in c . . . i . ., ..
, d . . . , First, a structural similarity
the mirror of various human with the d [c of the Exerdses
developmental models could would place the Constitutions in
also help us to appreciate the the andent context of Western
extraordinarily steep and Christian mysticism that habitually
rewarding developmental divides human progression toward
trajectory implied in Jesuit G od into three "Ways," the purga-
formation. tive, the illuminative, and the uni-
^^ ma __ / _ mm ^_^^^^^^^^_ tive. 34 For Ignatius, this was a self-
evident background for interpret-
ing the Exercises: "[IJlluminative life . . . corresponds to the exercises
of the second week . . . purgative life . . . corresponds to those of the
See Javier Melloni, The Exercises of St Ignatius Loyola in the Western Tradition,
trans. Michel Ivens (Leominster: Gracewing, 2000.)
The Incarnational Dynamic of the Constitutions -& 43
first" (10 v7 ^ [p. 24]). 35 Familiarity with the spiritual tradition of the
"three ways" could be of significant help in understanding the
Constitutions and in increasing our capacity to support Jesuits in
formation. For example, the basic insight that in the illuminative
phase, "theological virtues" — faith, hope, and charity — are chal-
lenged to grow could shed light on how scholastics tend to perceive
their situation, and how further dynamic growth in the Spirit can be
better fostered in the particular conditions of this stage of formation.
Another field of research would open to us by examining the
stages of formation described by the Constitutions in light of contem-
porary human developmental theories. There are a surprising num-
ber of correlations with higher-level (meaning adult) stages of estab-
lished developmental models, and these correlations could shed
much light on the anthropological foundations of Ignatian spiritual-
ity. For example, at each stage of Jesuit formation, the developmen-
tal goal appears to correlate with successive "basic needs" or deep
human desires described by A.
Maslow. 36 This evokes the "id
quod volo" of the Spiritual Exer- In terms of human
cises, where the graces to be development, the
prayed for at each stage cor- Constitutions seem to give
respond to profound desires of the surprisingly pertinent
individual who is moving through insights to some of our chief
the Exercises. Since the conception questions and needs in a
of the incarnational dynamic of postmodern world.
the Constitutions is solidly rooted
in the fundamental Ignatian con- — — ^ , ^" — ~^^^~"
cern of a progression toward God,
psychological aspects can be studied without fearing an unjust
reduction of spirituality to psychology. As a result, developmental
models could contribute significantly to describing in contemporary
terms the characteristics of each stage. Seeing the Constitutions in the
mirror of various human developmental models could also help us
35
The 1599 Official Directory to the Spiritual Exercises explains how the three
ways are both successive and overlapping, and also how the four "weeks"
correspond to three "ways." See On Giving the Spiritual Exercises: The Early Jesuit
Manuscript Directories and the "Official Directory of 1599," trans, and ed. Martin E.
Palmer, S.J. (St. Louis: The Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1996), chap. 39, pp. 346-48.
36
A. Maslow, Motivation and Personality (New York: Harper and Row, 1954).
44 <$> JANOS LUKACS, S.J.
to appreciate the extraordinarily steep and rewarding developmental
trajectory implied in Jesuit formation. In terms of human develop-
ment, the Constitutions seem to give surprisingly pertinent insights to
some of our chief questions and needs in a postmodern world.
Perhaps the most interesting area of research opens out into a
third field, that of Ignatian and general Christian anthropology. As a
relatively recent trend in developmental psychology, mainstream
theories of psychological and moral development can be discussed in
a single comprehensive framework that is capable of integrating
previously isolated (psychodynamic, cognitive, existential, moral, and
so on) aspects of human development. 37 In recent years, several
authors have found this comprehensive model to be well in tune
with a Christian and, more specifically, with an Ignatian perspective.
It has been applied fruitfully in areas like spiritual direction, analyz-
ing the Spiritual Exercises, and conceptualizing the psycho-spiritual
development implied in Jesuit formation. 38 Although this model is
still evolving, the perspective of discussing spiritual, intellectual,
emotional, and moral issues in an integrated way is extremely
promising. On the horizon, one can discern the outlines of a Chris-
tian anthropology that is compatible both with our Western spiritual
tradition and with the best achievements of psychological research
during the past century. This anthropology would be in many ways
comparable to the Thomist model, which integrated Aristotelian
anthropology into Christian spirituality in the thirteenth century.
The major difference is that, in contrast to a static Greek anthropol-
ogy, a modern dynamic paradigm would be more appropriate for
37
Robert Kegan, The Evolving Self: Problem and Process in Human Development
(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1982), and id., In Over Our Heads: The Mental
Demands of Modern Life (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1994).
38
Regarding spiritual direction see Wolski Joann Conn, Spirituality and
Personal Maturity (New York: Paulist, 1989), and Elizabeth Liebert, Changing Life
Patterns: Adult Development in Spiritual Direction (St. Louis: Chalice Press, 2000).
Regarding the analysis of the Spiritual Exercises, see David C. McCallum, S.J.,
"Growing in Wisdom and Grace: Constructive-Developmental Theory as a Heuristic
Framework for Interpreting the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola" (S.T.L.
thesis, Weston Jesuit School of Theology, 2001). Regarding the conceptualization of
psycho-spiritual development, see Janos Lukacs, S.J., "A Postmodern Twist in the
Jesuit Novitiate: Developmental Anthropology and Ignatian Formation" (S.T.L. thesis,
Weston Jesuit School of Theology, 2002).
The Incarnational Dynamic of the Constitutions ^ 45
seamless integration into the Christian conception of a human
being's dynamic progression toward God.
Theory and Practice in Understanding the Constitutions
I hope that even in its present fragmentary form, the concept
of the "incarnational dynamic" of the Constitutions will prove to be
useful in promoting Jesuit formation in a contemporary world and
in integrating a vital Ignatian source into our reflections and discus-
sions about Jesuit life. A more explicit use of the Constitutions would
allow a more precise identification of Ignatian goals at each stage of
formation, enabling us to evaluate our current goals and to establish
them more clearly where necessary. Clearer goals could foster more
fruitful exchanges among formators about how to promote these
goals and how to apply Ignatian means more purposefully in a
contemporary cultural context. Eventually, one could be introduced
into the art of accompanying persons along the incarnational dy-
namic of the Constitutions, much as one can already become skilled
in giving the Spiritual Exercises under supervision or in thematic
workshops.
Although many details of the Constitutions still remain to be
interpreted in a contemporary context, there is hope that these
elements will begin to fall into place as we begin to see them in
correlation with the underlying developmental dynamic. Our under-
standing of the Ignatian text can be expected to deepen through a
more precise attention to the praxis of Jesuit formation, rather like
what happened in the case of the Spiritual Exercises, where attention
to the text and attention to the practice of applying it have proved
to be mutually beneficial since the beginning of our modern Ignatian
renewal.
Engaging in this renewal means, according to the Constitutions,
close cooperation with God who "will preserve and carry forward
what He deigned to begin" (C 812 v3 ). In giving the Spiritual Exer-
cises, we have been experiencing the abundant graces of cooperating
with God who "communicate [s] Himself to the devout soul" (14 v4 [p.
25]) in amazingly powerful ways. We can reasonably hope that the
continuing integration of the Constitutions into our common Jesuit
life will become a graced experience to a similar extent. In our
movement toward God, we can trust to be carried "on eagles' wings"
(Exod. 19:4), while God's glory can continue to be manifested more
plainly in this least Society.
Supplemental Bibliography
Note: Many other relevant items can be found in the bibliographies of
Ganss, Saint Ignatius' Idea of a Jesuit University, as well as in Gehl,
Grendler, McCabe, and Scaglione, all listed below.
Atteberry, John, and John Russell, eds. Ratio Studiorum: Jesuit Education, 1540-
1773. Chestnut Hill, Mass.: Boston College, 1999.
Bartlett, Dennis Alan. The Evolution of the Philosophical and Theological Elements of
the Jesuit "Ratio Studiorum": An Historical Study, 1540-1599. Ann Arbor, Mich.:
University Microfilms International, 1985.
Bertran Quera, Miguel. La pedagogia de los Jesuitas en la Ratio studiorum: La
fundacion de colegios, origenes, autores y evolucion historica de la Ratio, andlisis de
la educacion religiosa, caracterologica e intelectual. San Cristobal, Caracas:
Universidad Catolica del Tachira, Centro de Estudios Interdisciplinarios;
Universidad Catolica Andres Bello, Instituto de Investigaciones Historicas,
1984.
Bianchi, Angelo. Ratio atque institutio studiorum Societatis Iesus: Ordinamento degli
studi delta Compagnia di Gesii. Milan: Biblioteca Universale Rizzoli, 2002.
Bonachea, Rolando E., ed. Jesuit Higher Education: Essays on an American Tradition
of Excellence. Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press, 1989.
Brizzi, Gian Paolo, ed. La "ratio studiorum": Modelli culturali e pratiche educative dei
Gesuiti in Italia tra cinque e seicento. Rome : Bulzoni, 1981.
Brown, Stephen F. "Theology and Philosophy." In Medieval Latin: An Introduction
and Bibliographic Guide, edited by F. A. C. Mantello and A. G. Rigg, 267-87.
Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1996.
Buckley, Michael J., SJ. The Catholic University as Promise and Project: Reflections
in a Jesuit Idiom. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 1998.
Cabral Texo, Jorge. El Ratio Studiorum de la Compania de Jesus: Su influencia en el
primer plan de estudios de la Universidad de Cordoba. Buenos Aires: Impr. y
Casa Editora de Coni Hnos., 1912.
Cacho Vazquez, Xavier. La Ratio studiorum de la Compania de Jesus y los valores.
Mexico, D. F.: Universidad Iberoamericana, Centro de Integracion Universi-
taria, 1994.
Codina Mir, Gabriel, S.J. Aux sources de la pedagogie des Jesuites: Le "modus parisi-
ensis." Rome: Institurum Historicum Societatis Iesu, 1968.
Colombat, Bernard. La grammaire latine en France a la Renaissance et a I' Age clas-
sique: Theories et pedagogie. Grenoble: Ellug, Universite Stendahl, 1999.
Dainville, Francois de. ^education des Jesuites (XVT-XVIH e siecles). Paris: Les
Editions de Minuit, 1978.
Daly, Peter M., and G. Richard Dimler, S.J. The Jesuit Series: Corpus Librorutu
Emblematum. Montreal: McG ill-Queen's University Press, 1997.
Deferrari, Roy J. A Latin-English Dictionary of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Boston:
Daughters of St. Paul, 1960.
47
48 <0> JAnos Lukacs, S.J.
Demoustier, Adrien, and Dominique Julia. Ratio Studiorum: Plan raisonne et
institution des etudes dans la Compagnie de Jesus. Edition bilingue latin-francais.
Translated by Leone Albrieus and Dolores Pralon-Julia. Annotations and
commentary by Marie-Madeleine Compere. Paris: Belin, 1997.
Donohue, John W., S.J. Jesuit Education: An Essay on the Foundation of Its Idea.
New York: Fordham University Press, 1963.
Duminuco, Vincent J., S.J., ed. The Jesuit Ratio Studiorum: 400th Anniversary
Perspectives. New York: Fordham University Press, 2000.
Farrell, Allan Peter, S.J. The Jesuit Code of Liberal Education: Development and Scope
of the Ratio Studiorum. Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing Company, 1938.
. The Jesuit "Ratio studiorum" of 1599, Washington, D.C.: Conference of
Major Superiors of Jesuits, 1970.
Fitzpatrick, Edward A., ed. St. Ignatius and the "Ratio studiorum." The Ratio studio-
rum translated by A. R. Ball; the Constitutions, Part IV, translated by Mary
Helen Mayer. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1933.
Franca, Leonel. O metodo pedagogico dos jesuitas: O "Ratio Studiorum," Introduqao e
Traduqao. Rio de Janeiro: Agir, 1952.
Ganss, George, S.J. Saint Ignatius' Idea of a Jesuit University. 2nd ed. Milwaukee:
Marquette University Press, 1956.
Ganss, George, S.J., trans, and ed. The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus. Saint
Louis: The Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1970.
Gehl, Paul F. A Moral Art: Grammar, Society, and Culture in Trecento Florence.
Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1993.
Gil, Eusebio, and C. Labrador. La pedagogia de los jesuitas, oyer y hoy. Madrid :
Universidad Pontificia de Comillas, 1999.
Gil, Eusebio. ed., with Carmen Labrador; A. Diez Escanciano; J. Martinez de la
Escalera. El sistema educativo de la Compania de Jesus: La "Ratio studiorum."
Edition bilingue, estudio historico-pedagogico, bibliografia. Madrid: Univer-
sidad Pontificia Comillas, 1992.
Grendler, Paul F. Schooling in Renaissance Italy: Literacy and Learning, 1300-1600.
Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989.
Homann, Frederick A., and Ladislaus Lukacs. Church, Culture, & Curriculum:
Theology and Mathematics in the Jesuit "Ratio studiorum." Philadelphia: Saint
Joseph's University Press, 1999.
Instituto Ignacio de Loyola. Anuario del Instituto Ignacio de Loyola / Loiolako Inazio
Institutuen Urekaria: Cuarto Centenario de la Ratio Studiorum. San Sebastian:
Universidad de Deusto, Instituto Ignacio de Loyola, 1999.
Jaeger, C. Stephen. The Envy of Angels: Cathedral Schools and Social Ideals in
Medieval Europe, 950-1200. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press,
1994.
Luce, Giard, et al. Les Jesuites a la Renaissance: Systeme educatif et production du
savoir. Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1995.
Martinez Marquez, Eduardo. Vigencia del Ratio studiorum de la Compania de Jesus.
Habana, Colegio de Belen, 1957.
Supplemental Bibliography -0- 49
McCabe, William H., S.J. An Introduction to the Jesuit Theater. Edited by Louis J.
Oldani, SJ. Saint Louis: The Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1983.
McGucken, William J., SJ. The Jesuits and Education: The Society's Teaching Princi-
ples and Practice, Especially in Secondary Education in the United States. New
York: The Bruce Publishing Company, 1932.
Mestre, Antonio, and Itziar Vilar Rey. Ratio studiorum: Una llibreria jesu'ita a la
Universitat de Valencia. Valencia: Universitat de Valencia, 2001.
Nugent, Daniel C. "The Grand Act at St. Louis University," The Woodstock Letters
32 (1903): 82-93.
O'Malley, John W., SJ. The First Jesuits. Cambridge: Harvard University Press,
1993.
. "The Council of Trent: Myths, Misunderstandings, and Misinformation."
In Spirit, Style, Story: Essays Honoring John W. Padberg, S.J. Edited by Thomas
M. Lucas, S.J., 205-23. Chicago: Loyola Press, 2002.
'The Jesuit Educational Enterprise in Historical Perspective." In Jesuit
Higher Education: Essays on an American Tradition of Excellence, edited by
Rolando Bonachea, 10-25. Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press, 1989.
Ong, Walter J., SJ. Ramus: Method, and the Decay of Dialogue: From the Art of
Discourse to the Art of Reason. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press,
1983.
Padberg, John W., S.J., "Development of the Ratio Studiorum." In The Jesuit "Ratio
Studiorum": 400th Anniversary Perspectives, edited by Vincent J. Duminuco,
S.J., 80-100. New York: Fordham University Press, 2000.
Padberg, John W., S.J.; Martin O'Keefe, S.J.; John McCarthy, SJ. For Matters of
Greater Moment: The First Thirty Jesuit General Congregations. Saint Louis: The
Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1994.
Paquet, Andre. "Ratio studiorum": Code pedagogique de la Compagnie de Jesus.
Montreal: Aux Editions de l'Entr'aide, 1940.
Pedersen, Olaf. The First Universities: Studium Generale and the Origins of
University Education in Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Rashdall, Hastings. The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages. Edited by F. M.
Powicke and A. B. Emden. 3 vols. Sandpiper Edition. London: Oxford
University Press, 1997; originally published in 1895.
Rubio i Goday, Angel, and Miquel Batllori. Ratio studiorum: L'ordenacio dels
estudis dels jesuites. Vic: Eumo, 1999. .
Russell, Daniel. "Alciati's Emblems in Renaissance France," Renaissance Quarterly
34, no. 4 (1981): 534-54.
Salomone, Mario. Ratio atque institutio studiorum Societatis Jesu: L ordinamento
scolastico dei collegi dei gesuiti. Milan: Feltrinelli economica, 1979.
Scaglione, Aldo. The Liberal Arts and the Jesuit College System. Philadelphia: John
Benjamins Publishing Company, 1986.
Schlafly, Daniel L., Jr. "The Ratio Studiorum on Alien Shores: Jesuit Colleges in
St. Petersburg and Georgetown," Rivista Portuguesa de Filosofia 55 (1999): 253-
74.
50 <0> JAnos Lukacs, S.J.
. * True to the Ratio Studiorum?' Jesuit Colleges in St. Petersburg/' History
of Education Quarterly 37 (1997): 421-34.
Schwickerath, Robert, S.J. Jesuit Education: Its History and Principles Viewed in the
Light of Modern Educational Problems. Saint Louis, Mo.: B. Herder, 1903.
Sirignano, Fabrizio Manuel. L'itinerario pedagogico delta Ratio studiorum. Naples:
Luciano, 2001.
Tanner, Norman P., ed. Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils. 2 vols. New York:
Sheed and Ward, 1990.
Tinsley, Barbara Sher. "Johann's Sturm's Method for Humanistic Pedagogy."
Sixteenth Century Journal 20 (1989):10, 23-40.
Tripole, Martin, S.J. ed. Jesuit Education 21: Conference Proceedings on the Future of
Jesuit Higher Education. Philadelphia: St. Joseph's University Press, 2000.
. ed. Promise Renewed: Jesuit Higher Education for a New Millenium. Chicago:
Jesuit Way, 1999.
□
Past Issues: Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits
(For prices, see inside back cover.)
1/1 Sheets, Profile of the Contemporary Jesuit (Sept. 1969)
1/2 Ganss, Authentic Spiritual Exercises: History and Terminology (Nov. 1969)
2/1 Burke, Institution and Person (Feb. 1970)
2/2 Futrell, Ignatian Discernment (Apr. 1970)
2/3 Lonergan, Response of the Jesuit as Priest and Apostle (Sept. 1970)
3/1 Wright, Grace of Our Founder and the Grace of Our Vocation (Feb. 1971)
3/2 O'Flaherty, Some Reflections on Jesuit Commitment (Apr. 1971)
3/4 Toner, A Method for Communal Discernment of God's Will (Sept. 1971)
3/5 Sheets, Toward a Theology of the Religious Life (Nov. 1971)
4/2 Two Discussions: I. Spiritual Direction, II. Leadership and Authority (Mar. 1972)
4/3 Orsy, Some Questions about the Purpose and Scope of the General Congregation (June 1972)
4/4 Ganss, Wright, O'Malley, O'Donovan, Dulles, On Continuity and Change: A Symposium
(Oct. 1972)
5/1-2 O'Flaherty, Renewal: Call and Response (Jan.-Mar. 1973)
5/3 Arrupe, McNaspy, The Place of Art in Jesuit Life (Apr. 1973)
5/4 Haughey, The Pentecostal Thing and Jesuits (June 1973)
5/5 Orsy, Toward a Theological Evaluation of Communal Discernment (Oct. 1973)
6/3 Knight, Joy and Judgment in Religious Obedience (Apr. 1974)
7/1 Wright, Ganss, Orsy, On Thinking with the Church Today (Jan. 1975)
7/2 Ganss, Christian Life Communities from the Sodalities (Mar. 1975)
7/3 Connolly, Contemporary Spiritual Direction: Scope and Principles (June 1975)
7/5 Buckley, The Confirmation of a Promise; Padberg, Continuity and Change in General
Congregation XXXII (Nov. 1975)
8/1 O'Neill, Acatamiento: Ignatian Reverence (Jan. 1976)
8/2-3 De la Costa, Sheridan, and others, On Becoming Poor: A Symposium on Evangelical Poverty
(Mar.-May 1976)
8/4 Faricy, Jesuit Community: Community of Prayer (Oct. 1976)
9/1-2 Becker, Changes in U.S. Jesuit Membership, 1958-75; Others, Reactions and Explanations
(Jan.-Mar. 1977)
9/4 Connolly, Land, Jesuit Spiritualities and the Struggle for Social Justice (Sept. 1977).
9/5 Gill, A Jesuit's Account of Conscience (Nov. 1977)
10/1 Kammer, "Burn-Out"— Dilemma for the Jesuit Social Activist (Jan. 1978)
10/4 Harvanek, Status of Obedience in the Society of Jesus; Others, Reactions to Connolly-Land
(Sept. 1978)
11/1 Clancy, Feeling Bad about Feeling Good (Jan. 1979)
11/2 Maruca, Our Personal Witness as Power to Evangelize Culture (Mar. 1979)
11/3 Klein, American Jesuits and the Liturgy (May 1979)
11/5 Conwell, The Kamikaze Factor: Choosing Jesuit Ministries (Nov. 1979)
12/2 Henriot, Appleyard, Klein, Living Together in Mission: A Symposium on Small Apostolic
Communities (Mar. 1980)
12/3 Conwell, Living and Dying in the Society of Jesus (May 1980)
12/4-5 Schineller, Newer Approaches to Christology and Their Use in the Spiritual Exercises (Sept. -Nov.
1980)
13/1 Peter, Alcoholism in Jesuit Life (Jan. 1981)
13/3 Ganss, Towards Understanding the Jesuit Brothers' Vocation (May 1981)
13/4 Reites, St. Ignatius of Loyola and the Jews (Sept. 1981)
14/1 O'Malley, The Jesuits, St. Ignatius, and the Counter Reformation (Jan. 1982)
14/2 Dulles, St. Ignatius and Jesuit Theological Tradition (Mar. 1982)
14/4 Gray, An Experience in Ignatian Government (Sept. 1982)
14/5 Ivern, The Future of Faith and Justice: Review of Decree Four (Nov. 1982)
15/1 O'Malley, The Fourth Vow in Its Ignatian Context (Jan. 1983)
15/2 Sullivan and Faricy, On Making the Spiritual Exercises for Renewal of Jesuit Charisms (Mar.
1983)
15/3-4 Padberg, The Society True to Itself: A Brief History of the 32nd General Congregation of the
Society of Jesus (May-Sept. 1983)
15/5-16/1 Tetlow, Jesuits' Mission in Higher Education (Nov. 1983-Jan. 1984)
16/2 O'Malley, To Travel to Any Part of the World: Jeronimo Nodal and the Jesuit Vocation (Mar.
1984)
16/3 O'Hanlon, Integration of Christian Practices: A Western Christian Looks East (May 1984)
16/4 Carlson, "A Faith Lived Out of Doors": Ongoing Formation (Sept. 1984)
17/1 Spohn, St. Paul on Apostolic Celihacy and the Body of Christ (Jan. 1985)
17/2 Daley, "In Ten Thousand Places": Christian Universality and the Jesuit Mission (Mar. 1985)
17/3 Tetlow, Dialogue on the Sexual Maturing of Celibates (May 1985)
17/4 Spohn, Coleman, Clarke, Henriot, Jesuits and Peacemaking (Sept. 1985)
17/5 Kinerk, When Jesuits Pray: A Perspective on the Prayer of Apostolic Persons (Nov. 1985)
18/1 Gelpi, The Converting Jesuit (Jan. 1986).
18/2 Beirne, Compass and Catalyst: The Ministry of Administration. (Mar. 1986)
18/3 McCormick, Bishops as Teachers and Jesuits as Listeners (May 1986)
18/5 Tetlow, The Transformation of Jesuit Poverty (Nov. 1986).
19/1 Staudenmaier, United States Technology and Adult Commitment (Jan. 1987)
19/2 Appleyard, Languages We Use: Talking about Religious Experience (Mar. 1987)
19/5 Endean, Who Do You Say Ignatius Is? Jesuit Fundamentalism and Beyond (Nov. 1987)
20/1 Brackley, Downward Mobility: Social Implications of St. Ignatius's Two Standards (Jan. 1988)
20/2 Padberg, How We Live Where We Live (Mar. 1988)
20/3 Hayes, Padberg, Staudenmaier, Symbols, Devotions, and Jesuits (May 1988)
20/4 McGovern, Jesuit Education and Jesuit Spirituality (Sept. 1988)
20/5 Barry, Jesuit Formation Today: An Invitation to Dialogue and Involvement (Nov. 1988)
21/1 Wilson, Where Do We Belong? United States Jesuits and Their Memberships (Jan. 1989)
21/2 Demoustier, Calvez, et al., The Disturbing Subject: The Option for the Poor (Mar. 1989)
21/3 Soukup, Jesuit Response to the Communication Revolution (May 1989)
22/1 Carroll, The Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life (Jan. 1990)
22/2 Bracken, Jesuit Spirituality from a Process Prospective (March 1990)
22/3 Shepherd, Fire for a Weekend: An Experience of the Exercises (May 1990)
22/4 O'Sullivan, Trust Your Feelings, but Use Your Head (Sept. 1990)
22/5 Coleman, A Company of Critics: Jesuits and the Intellectual Life (Nov. 1990)
23/1 Houdek, The Road Too Often Traveled (Jan. 1991)
23/2 DiGiacomo, Ministering to the Young (March 1991)
23/3 Begheyn and Bogart, A Bibliography on St. Ignatius's Spiritual Exercises (May 1991)
23/4 Shelton, Reflections on the Mental Health of Jesuits (Sept. 1991)
23/5 Toolan, "Nature Is a Heraclitean Fire" (Nov. 1991)
24/1 Houdek, Jesuit Prayer and Jesuit Ministry: Context and Possibilities (Jan. 1992)
24/2 Smolich, Testing the Water: Jesuits Accompanying the Poor (March 1992)
24/3 Hassel, Jesus Christ Changing Yesterday, Today, and Forever (May 1992)
24/4 Shelton, Toward Healthy Jesuit Community Living (Sept. 1992)
24/5 Cook, Jesus' Parables and the Faith That Does Justice (Nov. 1992)
25/2 Donahue, What Does the Lord Require? (March 1993)— ONCE AGAIN AVAILABLE
25/3 Padberg, Ignatius, the Popes, and Realistic Reverence (May 1993)
25/4 Stahel, Toward General Congregation 34 (Sept. 1993)
25/5 Baldovin, Christian Liturgy: An Annotated Bibliography (Nov. 1993)
26/1 Tetlow, The Most Postmodern Prayer (Jan. 1994)
26/2 Murphy, The Many Ways of Justice (March 1994)
26/3 Staudenmaier, To Fall in Love with the World (May 1994)
26/4 Foley, Stepping into the River (Sept. 1994)
26/5 Landy, Myths That Shape Us (Nov. 1994)
27/1 Daley, "To Be More like Christ" (Jan. 1995)
27/2 Schmidt, Portraits and Landscapes (March 1995)
27/3 Stockhausen, I'd Love to, but I Don't Have the Time (May 1995)
27/4 Anderson, Jesuits in Jail, Ignatius to the Present (Sept. 1995)
27/5 Shelton, Friendship in Jesuit Life (Nov. 1995)
28/1 Begheyn, Bibliography on the History of the Jesuits (Jan. 1996)
28/3 Clooney, In Ten Thousand Places, in Every Blade of Grass (May 1996)
28/4 Starkloff, "As Different As Night and Day" (Sept. 1996)
28/5 Beckett, Listening to Our History (Nov. 1996)
29/1 Hamm, Preaching Biblical Justice (Jan. 1997)
29/2 Padberg, The Three Forgotten Founders (March 1997)
29/3 Byrne, Jesuits and Parish Ministry (May 1997)
29/4 Keenan, Are Informationes Ethical? (Sept. 1997)
29/5 Ferlita, The Road to Bethlehem-Is It Level or Winding? (Nov. 1997)
30/1 Shore, The Vita Christi of Ludolph of Saxony and Its Influence on the Spiritual Exercises of
Ignatius of Loyola (Jan. 1998)
30/2 Starkloff, "I'm No Theologian, but... (or So . . . )?" (March 1998)
30/3 Torrens, The Word That Clamors (May 1998)
30/4 Petrik, "Being Sent" (Sept. 1998)
30/5 Jackson, "One and the Same Vocation" (Nov. 1998)
31/1 Clifford, Scripture and the Exercises (Jan. 1999)
31/2 Toohig, Physics Research, a Search for God (March 1999)
31/3 Fagin, Fidelity in the Church— Then and Now (May 1999)
31/4 Schineller, Pilgrim Journey of Ignatius (Sept. 1999)
31/5 Fu\hm,Juana, S.J.: Status of Women in the Society (Nov. 1999)
32/1 Langan, The Good of Obedience in a Culture of Autonomy (Jan. 2000)
32/2 Blake, Listen with Your Eyes (March 2000)
32/3 Shelton, When a Jesuit Counsels Others (May 2000)
32/4 Barry, Past, Present, and Future (Sept. 2000)
32/5 Starkloff, Pilgrimage Re-envisioned (Nov. 2000)
33/1 Kolvenbach et al., Faith, Justice, and American Jesuit Higher Education (Jan. 2001)
33/2 Keenan, Unexpected Consequences: Parsons's Christian Directory (March 2001)
33/3 Arrupe, Trinitarian Inspiration of the Ignatian Charism (May 2001)
33/4 Veale, Saint Ignatius Asks, "Are You Sure You Know Who I Am?" (Sept. 2'001)
33/5 Barry and Keenan, How Multicultural Are We? (Nov. 2001)
34/1 Blake, "City of the Living God" (Jan. 2002)
34/2 Clooney, A Charism for Dialog (March 2002)
34/3 Rehg, Christian Mindfulness (May 2002)
34/4 Brackley, Expanding the Shrunken Soul (Sept. 2002)
34/5 Bireley, The Jesuits and Politics in Time of War (Nov. 2002)
35/1 Barry, Jesuit Spirituality for the Whole of Life (Jan. 2003)
35/2 Madden/Janssens, The Training of Ours in the Sacred Liturgy (March 2003)
35/3 Marcouiller, Archbishop with an Attitude (May 2003)
35/4 Modras, A Jesuit in the Crucible (Sept. 2003)
35/5 Lucas, Virtual Vessels, Mystical Signs (Nov. 2003)
36/1 Rausch, Christian Life Communities for Jesuit University Students? (Spring 2004)
36/2 Bernauer, The Holocaust and the Search for Forgiveness (Summer 2004)
36/3 Nantais, "Whatever!" Is Not Ignatian Indifference (Fall 2004)
36/4 Lukacs, The Incarnational Dynamic of the Constitutions (Winter 2004)
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION, EFFECTIVE MARCH 2001
> U.S. JESUITS:
An annual subscription is provided by the ten United States provinces
for U.S. Jesuits living in the United States and U.S. Jesuits who are still
members of a U.S. province but living outside the United States.
> ALL OTHER SUBSCRIPTIONS:
Subscriptions to Studies:
U.S.: one-year, $18; two years, $35
Canada and Mexico: one year, $26; two years, $50
All other destinations: one year, $29; two years, $55
*** All payments must be in U.S. funds. ***
> CHANGE-OF-ADDRESS INFORMATION:
)»> Jesuit subscribers: Your province office should send us your change of
address; you need not do so.
v* Non- Jesuit subscribers: Change-of-address information (please include
former address label if possible) should be sent to Address
Correction.
> EDITORIAL OFFICE
Seminar on Jesuit Spirituality
Faber House
102 College Road
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467-3841
Tel: 617-552-0860
Fax: 617-552-0925
E-mail: fleminpb@bc.edu
> SUBSCRIPTIONS
Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits
3601 Lindell Boulevard
St. Louis, MO 63108
Tel: 314-977-7257
Fax: 314-977-7263
E-mail: ijs@slu.edu
> SINGLE ISSUES (Current or Past):
The price for single copies of current or past issues is $3.00, plus
postage and handling charges. Double issues (for example, 5/1-2, 8/2-3, 9/1-2,
etc.) are $6.00 each, plus postage and handling.
The Seminar on Jesuit Spirituality
3601 Lindell Boulevard
St. Louis, MO 63108
Non-Profit
Organization
U.S. Postage
PAID
St. Louis, Missouri
Permit No. 63
IBM^HMIMiMM^BM
ft********ft*************************MIXED ADC 63203
THOMAS O'NEILL LIBRARY
Boston College / Serials Department
Boston College
Chestnut Hill MA 0246/
BOSTON COLLEGE
04932 3
DOES NOT CIRCULATE